China was responding to a recent commentary by Sam Altman in which he described the development of artificial intelligence as a “race” between democracy and authoritarianism.
Writing in the Washington Post, the OpenAI CEO framed the future of AI as a tug-of-war between Western democracies and authoritarian states in Europe and Asia, citing Russia and China as the biggest threats.
However, China has denied the allegations, telling Newsweek that Altman’s statements about China are “baseless.”
Altman writes, “The time has come to decide which path to take. Although the United States currently leads in AI development, there is no guarantee that this lead will continue in the future. Autocratic regimes around the world are ready to spend enormous amounts of money to catch up and eventually surpass the United States. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has implicitly warned that the country that wins the AI race will ‘become master of the world,’ and the People’s Republic of China has said it aims to be the global leader in AI by 2030.”
Sam Altman warns about the AI ”race” in an op-ed for The Washington Post on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Sam Altman warns about the AI ”race” in an op-ed for The Washington Post on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
“These authoritarian regimes and movements will continue to tightly control the scientific, health, educational and other societal benefits of the technology in order to consolidate their own power.”
“If China can gain an advantage in AI, it will likely force U.S. companies and those of other countries to share user data and use the technology to develop new ways to spy on its own citizens and to develop next-generation cyber weapons to use against other nations.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the notion that the US and China are competitors rather than collaborators, highlighting recent examples of cooperation on artificial intelligence.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson told Newsweek: “China has consistently maintained that the development of artificial intelligence should adhere to the principles of being people-centered and promoting benevolence. China believes that AI development should be fair and inclusive, allowing all countries to enjoy the benefits brought by AI equally, and has no intention of seeking dominance in this field.”
“In July of this year, the 78th United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on ‘Strengthening International Cooperation in AI Capacity Building’ proposed by China, with more than 140 countries, including the United States, as co-sponsors.
“In May this year, China and the United States held their first intergovernmental dialogue on AI. China expressed its support for strengthening global AI governance and advocated for the United Nations to play a central role.”
“China is ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with the international community, including the United States, to shape a broadly agreed upon global AI governance framework and standards. The accusations are groundless.”
Michael Huang, executive director of PauseAI, a group that campaigns for future regulation of AI development, told Newsweek that future regulation of AI needs an international focus, and that viewing development as a “race” could lead to dangerous leaps in technology.
Huang said: “Just as the proliferation of nuclear weapons increases the risks of accidental or deliberate nuclear war, the AI race increases the risks of accidental or deliberate AI catastrophe.”
“The United States needs to ‘trust but verify’ other countries to enter into a much-needed international AI safety treaty. Companies and government agencies should be encouraged to accelerate AI safety research instead.”
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