China has chosen an immediately understandable reference to warn of the risks linked to artificial intelligence in war: the film Terminator. During a press briefing in Beijing, Jiang Bin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, explicitly mentioned the 1984 feature film to illustrate what could happen if armies gave machines too much autonomy.
Terminator joins the debate
« A dystopia could one day become reality he said, referring to the scenario where automated systems take control of military operations. The target of this warning is clear: the United States and its increasing use of AI in its armed forces. Beijing believes that “ the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence by the army » could weaken ethical rules and accountability in conflicts.
For China, a red line must not be crossed: the one where the algorithms themselves decide who should live or die. Jiang Bin thus denounced the possibility of “ giving algorithms the power to determine life and death ».
Beijing’s official position is to maintain a simple rule: humans must keep control. “ Human primacy must be maintained in military applications of AI », insisted the spokesperson. According to him, all weapon systems incorporating AI must remain under human control. China also calls for strengthening international rules around these technologies, particularly within the framework of multilateral discussions under the aegis of the United Nations.
The Pentagon is currently engaged in a conflict with Anthropic, the Californian company that develops the Claude AI. The company refuses to relax certain limits on the use of its system, in particular to prevent it from being used for violent operations, surveillance or the development of weapons. The Department of Defense wanted to be able to use AI to “ all legal use “. The discussions ended badly: Washington threatened to exclude Anthropic from its suppliers.
The tension was further heightened after reports that Claude had already been used for certain military tasks: intelligence gathering, target selection or battlefield simulations. These operations were allegedly linked to a planned raid targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The American army already relies on several models provided by technological giants. Alphabet, for example, offers a government version of its Gemini AI, while Elon Musk’s company xAI markets a suite called “Grok for Government”.
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