China Is Flirting With AI Catastrophe
Foreign AffairsMay 30, 2023
Following a meeting chaired by President and party leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday, China's ruling Communist Party has called for heightened national security measures while warning about the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
The first gathering of the National Security Commission under the 20th CCP Central Committee urged staunch efforts to enhance the security governance of internet data and AI, as well as the establishment of a risk monitoring and early warning system.
The fact that Beijing has shown awareness of AI risks doesn't mean that the government will give up its ambition to outdo the US in such technology, but rather that it will force companies to be subservient while suppressing any information that potentially threatens the regime. Aside from the inevitable criminal use of AI tools in Xinjiang, China's low accountability for accidents is likely to produce an AI catastrophe.
While China perceives AI as an empowering technology that contributes to a better future for humankind and the global good, it recognizes that it will bring with it safety and security challenges. It's exactly to reduce risks and maximize benefits that Beijing has been calling for international AI governance with shared responsibilities.
There's an 85% chance that Metaculus will predict that artificial intelligence continues to pose a global catastrophic risk by 2040, according to the Metaculus prediction community.