Today’s arms race is all about AI and it’s China vs America, says US defense secretary • The Register
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The world is entering a new phase in AI, and the race to get there is between China and the United States, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said.
He spoke earlier this week at the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s Global Emerging Technology Summit.
“Advances in technology like AI are changing the face and pace of warfare,” Austin said.
Austin believes that China is a particular concern when it comes to AI warfare. The Middle Kingdom has set itself the goal of being dominant in technology worldwide by 2030.
“In AI, as in many others, we understand that China is our challenge at pace,” said Austin, reminding his audience that China was already using AI for surveillance, cyberattacks and autonomous weapons.
Austin described DARPA’s $ 2 million multi-year campaign “AI Next” as paving the way for the “third wave” of AI technology. The first has its roots in 1960s research, and the second wave is believed to be now.
Austin described a future where AI will be less tool driven and more like a colleague:
He claimed there were more than 600 AI efforts currently underway in his department, with DARPA citing more than 60 AI-inclusive programs – including some that detect and fix cyber vulnerabilities.
The 600 efforts include the Artificial Intelligence and Data Acceleration Initiative, which uses AI on operational data; Project Salus, a predictive tool for finding patterns in COVID-19 data; and the Pathfinder project, an algorithm-driven system for detecting threats from the air.
Outside government organizations and their projects, partnerships with universities and small businesses were praised or described as “powerhouses” and “brimming with excellent ideas”.
The department plans to spend $ 1.5 billion on efforts to further accelerate the adoption of AI, Austin said – presumably to realize the bold vision of AI as a colleague.
Using high-pitched rhythmic rhetoric, Austin claimed that the US would not compromise on security, security or ethics and that it would rely on democratic values - while warning that the country would be ready to fight if necessary.
“AI will change many things in military operations, but nothing will change America’s commitment to martial law and the principles of our democracy,” Austin said.
He ended the speech with a catchy sound byte:
Things have heated up lately between the US and China as each nation fears the other is receiving large amounts of citizen data, limiting the technology of their own or their opponents. ®
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