Ministry of Defense: Opposing the Use of AI Advantages to Seek Absolute Military Hegemony

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] In military operations targeting Venezuela and Iran, the U.S. military has been reported to extensively use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, raising profound concerns about the ethics of war and the boundaries of military technology application. According to previous reports from U.S. media, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been urging the acceleration of AI technology application to create an "AI-first" combat force.

In response, Colonel Jiang Bin, Deputy Director of the News Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, stated at a regular press conference on the 11th that advancing the militarization of artificial intelligence without restrictions, using AI as a tool to infringe on the sovereignty of other countries, allowing AI to excessively influence war decisions, and letting algorithms control life and death not only erodes the ethical and responsible constraints of war but may also lead to technological loss of control, potentially making the disaster scenarios depicted in the U.S. movie "Terminator" a reality.      

Jiang Bin stated that China has always adhered to the principle of "people-centered, intelligence for good," and firmly believes that the military application of artificial intelligence should be human-led. He opposes the pursuit of absolute military hegemony through the advantages of emerging technologies like AI, which harms the sovereignty and territorial security of other countries. He said, "We are willing to work with countries around the world to promote a multilateral governance process for artificial intelligence centered on the United Nations, strengthen risk prevention and control, and ensure that artificial intelligence always develops in a direction beneficial to the progress of human civilization." (Wu Ming)