China is recruiting elite patriotic kids to develop AI weapons: report

A
child reacts as he pretends to use a handgun while under guidance
by a Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) soldier at the Ngong Shuen
Chau Barracks in Hong Kong on July 1, 2015.
Isaac Lawrence/AFP/Getty Images

• An elite group of “patriotic” students in China have
  been selected to begin training for a new
  artificial-intelligence weapons development
  program. 
• Some 31 kids — all under 18 — have been recruited to
  participate in the “Experimental Program for Intelligent
  Weapons Systems” at the Beijing Institute of Technology, which
  will groom them to become AI weapons experts, the South China
  Morning Post reported, citing an announcement from the Beijing
  Institute of Technology. 
• China has largely kept the development of its
  AI-weapons technology opaque, but experts say China’s army will
  likely leverage AI “to enhance its future capabilities,
  including in intelligent and autonomous unmanned
  systems.”

An elite group of “patriotic” students in China have been
selected to begin training for new artificial intelligence
weapons development program. 

31 kids — all under 18 — have been recruited to participate
in the “Experimental Program for Intelligent Weapons Systems” at
the Beijing Institute of Technology,
South China Morning Post reported Thursday, citing an
announcement from the Beijing Institute of Technology. The
program selected 27 boys and four girls from more than 5,000
applicants, the school’s website said, according to the
Post. 

“These kids are all exceptionally bright, but being bright is not
enough,” a BIT professor who asked not to be identified told the
Post. 

“We are looking for other qualities such as creative thinking,
willingness to fight, a persistence when facing challenges,” he
said. “A passion for developing new weapons is a must … and they
must also be patriots.”

According to the program’s brochure, each student will be
mentored by two weapons scientists with both academic and defense
backgrounds. The kids will later be tasked with choosing a
specialization within the weapons sector and will be assigned to
the relevant defense laboratory to hone their skills under the
guidance of experts. 

The institute expects students will go on to complete doctorate
degrees and become leaders in the field of AI weapons technology,
the Post said. 

China has been outspoken about its interest in developing AI
technology 

A
man puts dishes on robots for delivery at a restaurant in Hefei,
Anhui province, December 26, 2014.
Reuters

China has touted its AI development across sectors, including a

trillion-dollar autonomous-driving revolution and a

massive expansion of its facial-recognition software. 

In his keynote speech to the ruling Communist Party last
year, President Xi Jinping called for the embedding
of artificial intelligence technologies into the economy to
create growth and expand its capabilities across
industries.

Read more:



China is preparing for a trillion-dollar autonomous-driving
revolution

In July, China released its own
AI development plan, which proposed building up its domestic
AI industry to $150 billion over the next few years to establish
the country as an “innovation
center for AI” by 2030.

And while China has largely kept the development of its
AI-weapons technology opaque, Elsa B. Kania an adjunct fellow at
the Center for a New American Security, predicts
that China’s army will “likely leverage AI to enhance its future
capabilities, including in intelligent and autonomous unmanned
systems.”

China is reportedly
working on a fleet of drone submarines in order to give
China’s navy an advantage at sea. And in April, the Chinese air
force released
details about an upcoming drill
using fully autonomous swarms of
drones. 

But experts have repeatedly warned about the dangers of
AI 

An
MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft is parked in an aircraft
shelter at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs,
Nevada.

Isaac
Brekken/Getty Images

Experts have repeatedly warned about the dangers AI, arguing that
advanced systems which can make thousands of complex
decisions every second could have “dual-use” to help or harm,
depending on its design.

In February, AI experts across industries outlined in a
100-page report the dangers of
AI technology and how the technology could be weaponized for
malicious use. Aside from using AI technology for attacks in the
digital realm, the technology could be used in the physical realm
to turn technology, like drones, into weapons and attack targets
at the push of a button or the click of a mouse. 

In April, China submitted its proposal to the UN
Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
Systems announcing its desire to create a new protocol
for restricting the use of AI weapons. In its proposal, China
highlighted the dangers of AI weaponry but also stressed the need
to continue developing AI technology.