Artificial Intelligence’s Dual Impact: US-China Geopolitical Race

Navigating the Landscape of Artificial Intelligence: US-China Competition and Geopolitical Dynamics

The growing artificial intelligence race between America and China has a significant impact on both militaries, trading systems, and one of America’s great fears- communism. According to the Wall Street Journal, planners at the Pentagon called China’s growing military forces a “palpable sense of alarm.” They revealed that China has the power to hurt America. So, America began to search for new technology that could protect the country from its opponent. Artificial Intelligence is more defined merely as machine intelligence, and the AI race is, basically, which country has the best of these machines. AI has recently become a major problem in many different sectors across many different countries due to the forever expanding technology of this world, such as healthcare, education, and national security.

But AI isn’t just changing the way people live and work within countries; it is affecting a sizeable political discussion between significant powers, such as the United States and China. The leaders in the tech field include the US, which holds around 40% of the global market, and other countries like China, Canada, Israel, Germany, and Russia, all catching up fast. China’s goal is to take over the United States to become the global intelligence leader in the AI field before 2030. The Chinese government has been periodically making substantial investments in hopes of forming an extensive array of AI experts. The United States and Russia are both trying to reach China by improving the focus on AI.

Unveiling Vulnerabilities: AI’s Dual Potential and Urgent Defenses in a Shifting Landscape

It has been reported that both America and Russia will create their centers for AI, although the approach of the three countries will be different. Unfortunately, powerful AI systems can be misused. For example, if the Soviet Union had created a system of nuclear weapons earlier than the USA, then it could have had the upper hand in becoming the leading global power. Artificial intelligence could eventually be used to affect self-driving cars across America by causing them to distort traffic signals. It could also negatively affect facial recognition systems by detouring the security systems for technology such as ATMs. It could even fake voice commands. The whole effect of the lack of AI defense has not fully been interpreted. The innovation of Chinese AI will also have adverse effects on American businesses. If China were to have an AI advantage over America, we would have no defense if they were to hack systems like our self-driving cars or facial and voice recognition. To stop this, America needs to up its AI defenses. Some advanced hackers are already using cyber attacks to obtain regular user activity so that they can pass security tools and attack systems. This will affect our cybersecurity as well as our military endeavors, like unmanned combat drones.

References

1. “China’s Pursuit of Artificial Intelligence: Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications” by Elsa B. Kania, Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
2. “Artificial Intelligence and National Security” by Greg Allen, Taniel Chan, and Carrick Flynn, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.
3. “Competing in Artificial Intelligence Chips” by Elsa B. Kania, Center for a New American Security (CNAS).