World News | China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for stronger national security measures

BEIJING, May 31 (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has called for stronger national security measures, emphasizing the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence.

The official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday’s meeting chaired by party leader and President Xi Jinping urged “commitment to maintaining political security and improving the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence”.

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Xi Jinping, China’s head of state, military commander-in-chief and chairman of the National Security Council, called for a “highly aware of the complex and severe situation facing national security” at the meeting.

Xinhua reported that China needed “a new development pattern and a new security architecture.”

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China has devoted vast resources to suppressing any activity deemed to pose a political threat to party rule, spending more on police and security personnel than on the military.

Despite its relentless censorship of in-person protests and online criticism, citizens continue to express dissatisfaction with policies, most recently the draconian lockdowns enacted to combat the spread of COVID-19.

China has been cracking down on its tech industry to restore party control, but like other countries, it is scrambling to find ways to regulate developing technologies.

With the rise of a new generation of high-performance artificial intelligence chatbots (such as ChatGPT), people are increasingly worried that artificial intelligence systems will surpass humans and get out of control.

Scientists and tech industry leaders, including top executives at Microsoft and Google, issued fresh warnings on Tuesday about the dangers artificial intelligence poses to humanity.

“Mitigating the risk of AI extinction should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement said.

Earlier this year, more than 1,000 researchers and technologists, including Elon Musk, signed a longer letter calling for a six-month moratorium on AI development.

AI “poses profound risks to society and humanity,” the letter said, with some involved in the topic proposing a United Nations treaty to regulate the technology. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)