China calls for human control over military AI to prevent risks

The military use of artificial intelligence should remain human-led to prevent it from spiraling out of control, China's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Jiang Bin, the ministry's spokesman, made the remarks in an online news briefing in response to media reports that the United States Department of War had demanded American technology companies allow unrestricted use of AI technologies by the military.

Additionally, the US military has reportedly employed AI tools extensively in military operations against Venezuela and Iran, triggering deep concerns over war ethics and the boundary of military application of technology.

Jiang described those actions with four expressions: the unrestricted application of AI by the military, using AI as a tool to violate the sovereignty of other nations, allowing AI to excessively affect war decisions, and giving algorithms the power to determine life and death.

Such actions not only erode ethical restraints and accountability in wars but also risk technological runaway, he noted, adding that a dystopia depicted in the American film The Terminator could one day come true.

"Upholding a people-centered approach and the principle of AI for good, China believes that human primacy must be upheld in military applications of AI, and that all relevant weapon systems must be put under human control," Jiang stressed.

"We are opposed to taking advantage of the lead in AI and other emerging technologies to pursue absolute military dominance or undermine the sovereignty and territorial security of other countries," he said.

China will work with other nations to advance multilateral AI governance with United Nations centrality, strengthen risk prevention and control, and ensure that AI always develops in a direction conducive to the progress of human civilization, said the spokesman.