AI Warfare: Experts Say China's Advantage Threatens US Global Influence

In the quest for global power, establishing artificial intelligence on the battlefield is a major and potentially scary goal. 

Experts testified before the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday on AI's capabilities and best practices for using machines to save military lives. 

Attempting to make laws that put in safeguards for AI, legislators discussed three potential outcomes of using AI in combat. First, it could increase the destructive power of modern warfare. Second, AI also has the potential to lessen that power. Finally, is the possibility that machines could unilaterally take power and go beyond our ability to control them. 

"The country that is able to most rapidly and effectively implement new technology into warfare – wins," said Founder and CEO of Scale AI, Alex Wang. 

He believes the U.S. is already behind in the AI race, and he should know because the Pentagon is a major customer. 

"China is investing the full power of its industrial base for AI," Wang said. "This year, they're on track to spend roughly three times the U.S. government on AI." 

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The Department of Defense awarded his company, Scale AI, a $250 million contract to help the U.S. military develop and deploy new technology, including an AI decision-making tool called Donovan and robotic combat vehicles. 

"Intelligence algorithms have made data significantly more valuable than they have in the past," said Wang. "Everyone in DOD needs to understand that data is actually the ammunition in an AI war." 

Wang told Congress that the U.S. should combine military data with current AI technology to establish a foundation for long-term success. 

The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) is a relatively new Defense branch responsible for training artificial intelligence models, developing new military capabilities, and conducting threat analysis while making decisions – including the taking of human life. 
 
"It's certainly true that the exquisite capabilities that the DOD looks to build are likely to be developed at the secret or top-secret level," Wang said. 

And without that development, experts agree the U.S. risks losing global influence, technological leadership, and democracy to strategic adversaries, including China. 

"It's really important that your government and your industry work together to realize those promises and mitigate those threats," said Klon Kitchen from the American Enterprise Institute. 

As lawmakers work to bolster the military's artificial intelligence, others warn average Americans need to prepare for a changed workforce. Florida Senator Marco Rubio told CBN News AI 'is a genie that can't be put back into a bottle.' 

"And what's interesting about AI is the jobs that it's going to replace are not factory workers and industrial workers as much as white-collar workers," Sen. Rubio said. "If you're a linguist or an interpreter; if you're a journalist in many cases, especially in print. I mean, I can go down the list of profession after profession -- to screenwriters in Hollywood that are going to be threatened by this, and no matter how much we try to stop it, at some point it is going to threaten jobs. So, we need to start thinking about what impact it's going to have on our society and what are these new jobs that might be created as a result of this and try to get ahead of it, because we failed to do that during globalization. I think we're paying the price for it now, not just in our economy, but our politics with our deep level of distrust and polarization."

Education is key because some lawmakers admittedly don't even know what Twitter does, let alone the capabilities of artificial intelligence. For those making laws to govern AI, the key is quickly implementing this technology while also keeping it controlled – as the U.S. fights to keep up with China.