China has always been in competition with the United States when it comes to infrastructure and economic development. But the latest coming out of the country poses a new challenge for developers, since artificial intelligence or AI has been on the rise for quite some time now. A quick Google search about China’s AI will bring back various results about how this is a threat to the U.S. and how Trump and the White House have been relatively silent in term of discussing this issue in depth. We know that the current President has outspokenly addressed those who dare to compete with the United States and  for some, Anti-China rhetoric is a comfort, creating space of potentially harmful nationalism among Americans. But let us get to the core of the issue – AI is present is many parts our lives from self-driving cars to voice recognition software. The implications that this holds for the U.S. to get ahead are important because it has the potential to tell us – both those in Silicon valley and the general public what the trajectory of our national security and economic development could look like within the next few years.

China’s Action Plan to Push for AI 

The  development of artificial intelligence has had a great deal of support from the Chinese government with a New Generation AI Development Plan being released in July of 2017. (1) It is difficult to pinpoint where the motivation to develop AI comes from, but sources speculate it could be coming from the private sector as well. According to the New York Times, “A.I. has become a significant part of national defense policy.” (2) In fact, the Central Military Fusion Development Commission Office, the Central Military Commission partnered with a few others will be specifically tasked with ensuring the “inclusion of military applications within the nation’s broader agenda” (2)  With the U.S. less focused on this technological advancement at the moment, the military looks forward to seizing the opportunity to apply it to warfare techniques It is clear to see that China’s push for this innovation that was once merely a fantasy has become real and foundational to the country’s eventual goal of being the most economically developed.

According to an interview featured on NPR, a company called Baidu is the current leader in dominating the world of AI. (3) Using voice recognition software, the search engine using stored data to translate languages – in China’s case from one dialect to another. This could be useful to students and businesspeople throughout the country. Of course, representatives of Baidu were asked about their limitations in terms of utilizing their work for military use or whether AI could potentially put the Chinese out of work. However, Baidu believes it could potentially open the door for a new and thriving industry and it terms of military use – we would have to wait to see the future. (3)

The unpredictability of AI in China could mirror that of a heated political debate. Many ask: What are the risks? What could go wrong? For now, Americans look as we see devices that we have never seen before, from human-like robots that can talk and move to self-driving cars all of which delve deeper into a world that we once believed to be fictional. But the Chinese don’t take this lightly, they have those in the workforce as well as youth and government officials aware of the benefits of AI and if the U.S. wants to make a push, the folks working in Silicon Valley urge us to do the same.

Sources:

https://thediplomat.com/2018/02/chinas-ai-agenda-advances/

https://newyorktimes.com/2018/02/12/technology-china-trump-artifical-intelligence.html

https://www.npr.org/2018/01/01/574985930/chinese-advances-in-artificial-intelligence