On this episode of China Uncensored,
could China’s plans to become the world leader in artificial intelligence
let the Chinese Communist Party rule forever and enslave us all?
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
Just when you thought Skynet was going to be the one
to kick off the final showdown of man versus machine,
the Chinese Communist Party announced its plans
to become the world leader in making superintelligent machines
that could spell our doom.
Haha, don’t worry.
The Terminator was just a movie.
And it doesn’t take place until 2029.
What’s that, Shelley?
The Chinese Communist Party actually has a Skynet?
Wow.
What are they going to name
their new artificial intelligence projects?
HAL?
Ultron?
The Machines?
Because there will be more AI projects.
China’s State Council announced their goal
to be a leader in AI in a document called
“A Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan.”
It’s a plan that aims to give China
the “first-mover advantage in the development of AI”
by “making China the world’s primary AI innovation center” by 2030.
I guess we have nothing to worry about since that’s
a whole year further into the future than the Terminator movies.
Wait a second.
2030 is only 12 years away.
I just realized are closer in time to 2030 than we are
to Hurricane Katrina, which happened in 2005.
I think I just got a glimpse of my own mortality.
But back to the Chinese regime’s plan for leading the world in AI.
They plan for China’s AI industry to be worth
nearly $150 billion dollars by 2030.
And, by 2025, they plan to have achieved
“major breakthroughs in basic theories for AI” technology.
Oh good, that’s only seven years away.
And they plan for AI to become the “driving force
for industrial upgrading and economic transformation.”
And of course, to “protect national security.”
Which has absolutely no sinister undertones at all.
So the Chinese government has put together
a three-year action plan to make sure this all really happens.
Action point number one is money.
And lots of it.
For example, they’ll be dropping 2.1 billion dollars
on a park in the suburbs of Beijing.
Not that kind of park.
This kind of park,
where adults have to work all day.
But that one single 2.1 billion dollar investment
is almost twice as much as the US government
spent in a year on its entire AI program.
And the Chinese Communist Party wants private companies
to cough up dough, too.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group—
owned by Jack Ma—
is leading the way.
They provided 600 million dollars
in a C-round investment to an AI startup called SenseTime.
That investment makes SenseTime
the most valuable artificial intelligence tech startup in the world;
it’s now valued at 4.5 billion dollars.
The company specializes in intelligent facial recognition.
This is super handy for “protecting national security”—
protecting China from dangerous criminals.
And old people who meditate.
And the AI facial recognition business is booming in China.
At least that’s what the SenseTime CEO told Quartz.
He said it’s because China has “real world problems.”
Yeah, real world problems.
Like people wanting to be left alone to practice their religion.
And that’s a problem that they’re already on their way to solving.
SenseTime brags it’s helped Chinese police
spy on citizens in Guangzhou and in Yunnan province.
This is a demo reel released by SenseTime of their new app,
SenseFace.
It shows people going into a subway station,
and how it can quickly recognize them and match them up
with other their IDs.
It’s so cool!
These systems can even match your face with your car,
and then match you with all the people you’re in touch with.
And software like this is even more important for authorities
in places like China’s Xinjiang region—
which is home to the most dangerous people of all:
ethnic minorities.
Police in Xinjiang use facial recognition,
biometric data, internet monitoring,
and other tools to keep tabs on members of the Uighur minority
and restrict their movement and behavior.
And it’s all there in black and white in China’s big AI plan.
According to “Deciphering China’s AI Dream,”
a detailed analysis of the State Council’s plan,
...AI should play an “irreplaceable” role in maintaining social stability
and predict social unrest before it happens.
And in case companies like SenseTime might object
to their technology being used to stifle Chinese dissidents,
don’t worry.
The AI plan includes a strategy for that, too.
The Chinese regime is looking for ways to
“exert more influence over large tech companies”
just to make sure they play ball.
But developing AI to repress dissidents inside China
isn’t the only thing that’s worrying experts.
Berlin-based political scientist Sebastian Heilmann,
who coined the term “digital Leninism”
to describe China’s AI fueled surveillance,
says China’s authoritarian regime will use AI
to to challenge Western democracies.
He says it goes beyond what George Orwell
had in his vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four.
...because China’s system constantly moves with you
and tracks your every movement.
But, uh, if an authoritarian regime
develops the world’s most powerful AI,
it couldn’t, like, take over the world, right?
“Because if one company or a small group of people,
manages to develop god-like digital power,
they could take over the world.
When there’s an evil dictator,
at least that human is going to die,
but for an AI there would be no death.
It would live forever.
And you would have an immortal dictator,
from which we could never escape.”
Thanks, Elon.
I feel much better now.
But maybe the Chinese Communist Party
isn’t interested in clinging to power forever.
Then again, maybe they are.
Hopefully the resistance sends someone back in time
to protect us.
Wait, is Elon Musk Kyle Reese?
So how do you feel about China’s plans
to become the world leader in artificial intelligence?
Leave your comments below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
Find out more about how the Chinese Communist Party
uses artificial intelligence to stifle dissent.
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