China in AI Technological Advances

Today, China is one of the world’s most powerful powers, with massive investments in civil and military development, and stands out for advances in artificial intelligence (AI). But with the microchip crisis and the West’s history of rapid advances in AI research and applications, the country is leveraging its economic and scientific efforts to enter this technology market.

And a few years later, it came in second place as the country that invests the most in AI research and development (R&D), demonstrating that it has managed to capture the world’s attention in this race for the podium.

Building innovative bridges

Before Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1978, China lived under a gigantic scientific backwardness due to the socio-cultural values ​​established by previous governments and US (US) economic embargoes during the Cold War.

Xiaoping’s reforms are opening up the Chinese market, instilling cultural values ​​that prioritize education, and increasing attention to investment in research and development, making China embark on a rapid technological and scientific growth.

The country began its first AI developments in the 2010s, targeting the private market with systems related to the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and other information technologies.

This encouraged researchers and investors from the world market in this field, which prompted the country to launch government applications, introducing technology into the production, maintenance and improvement of the country’s physical and social infrastructure. However, China’s success has never been noticed by the international community, especially by those who declare themselves the main rivals of this power.

The US has been on the offensive against the country since the 1949 revolution, when it strategically imposed a series of economic and industrial sanctions to curb China’s technological and scientific progress. Who will spare no effort to get around this situation and secure a place on the podium in the race that has just begun.

chaotic race

Advanced AI is a technology that requires very high computational requirements, especially when it comes to marketing applications and public administration in one of the largest countries in the world. This requires a large and diversified production and development chain specialized in this field, which supplies quality specialists, software and hardware.

It was then, in the mid-2010s, that China began industrial investment geared towards this demand, losing some of its dependence on imports from other countries.

A new investment initiative will prove necessary in the coming years due to new economic sanctions imposed by the US, motivated by an espionage and industrial theft scandal involving a Chinese citizen linked to the technology industry.

In 2017, the State Council of China published the “Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan”, which aims to make China a leading country in artificial intelligence technology by 2030.

The plan has three main objectives: first, to accelerate research in areas with high public/private investment and promote technological innovation programs; the second is to integrate AI into various sectors of the Chinese economy, including healthcare, transport, manufacturing, and the military; and the third provides for an emphasis on civic awareness and understanding of the area.

The Chinese government is one of the governments that is investing the most in research and development and the application of AI in the daily lives of its population. He already oversees the training and concentration of students, participates in the production and transportation of basic industry products, coordinates robot workers in light industry, assists in processing hundreds of terabytes of citizen data, and works in various areas of the powerful Liberation Army.

But not only the government is at the forefront of development in this area, companies such as Alibaba, Baidu and iFlytek are the largest companies in this field operating in the country. Last month, Baidu had the distinction of announcing its natural language processing framework, Ernie Bot, which has no release date yet and shows no signs of being a direct competitor to ChatGPT.

In 2018, China displaced the US from three pedestals, the largest holder of AI patents, the largest scientific production and the most academic citations in the world, in addition to being the second largest field-focused specialist and company.

However, such achievements attract the attention of those who lose along with them, which creates even more tension when it comes to the clash of the two greatest powers of the planet.

The US government has expressed serious concern about China’s rapid advancement in the AI ​​race, especially with military and pharmaceutical applications emerging from the 2017 plan, which has helped exacerbate other ongoing conflicts between the two hegemonies.

unfinished conflicts

TSMC’s advanced chip manufacturing has always been raised as one of the main topics of discussion in the Sino-Taiwan conflict. Such microchips are key elements for the development of very high power AI.

Tensions have intensified with the arrival of the US providing diplomatic support to Taiwan, where together they have initiated extensive technological restrictions on trade with China; raising export duties, limiting various types of access to microchip patents, and even banning some companies from sharing any scientific knowledge with the country.

Even though China had achieved a great deal of industrial independence in the area, it still imported its products from time to time, which was quite difficult due to numerous restrictions.

Geopolitical complexities aside, China is known to be one of the countries with the highest level of civilian surveillance in the world. And with the application of AI in this area, the ability of a government to collect data on its citizens is enormous; faces, voice, consumer and even social behavior recognition are collected for government purposes.

The autocratic use of AI can damage or limit the rights of society, generating an irrational aversion to an extraordinary tool. In addition to risks to freedom of speech and democracy, which will reduce public confidence in the government and companies using this technology.

This misuse of AI is not limited to China. The US has already come under the spotlight due to the high degree of surveillance and misuse of information from its citizens. In addition to the many tragic cases of U.S. drone strikes that have killed hundreds of civilians in more than five countries in the East.

A technology with noble goals, when used by attackers, lost its original meaning along with the victims of these bad intentions.

Reflections

There is no denying the gigantic progress China has made in AI R&D, knowing how to invest, plan and apply its discoveries in civilian fields, forever transforming the country’s basic and consumer industries.

And as a world power, it has not limited its efforts to expand the automation of its military, creating one of the most artificial intelligence military forces in the world. Possessing a highly developed military integration logistics system connecting the five branches of the country’s military: land, air, sea, ballistic missile forces and strategic support forces.

China has yet to go through many geopolitical interactions, and the future is clouded by doubts about how this and other global capabilities will deal with one of the most revolutionary technologies in the means of production. The industry, which is already accumulating trillions of dollars of investment, is in a constant heating phase, with the potential for beneficial changes, but with an event horizon that could shake the global economy.

It takes time and patience to be informed and able to understand the depth of the complexity of this subject, but it is helpful when you understand the impact of this race on our lives today and tomorrow.

Source: Science and Technology in China, UNESCO Science Report 2021, Next Generation AI Roadmap, Why China is Losing the Microchip War, China’s Race for AI Supremacy, China’s Debate on AI’s Military Usefulness, Global AI Index, Global AI vibration tool