GENEVA — The leaders of the United States and China held private talks in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss how to ensure emerging artificial intelligence technologies do not become an existential risk.
The talks, which President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping agreed last year to begin in 2023, will bring the world's two largest economies and increasingly geopolitical rivals together over rapidly advancing technologies that are already impacting trade. It aims to initiate bilateral dialogue between countries. Lifestyle, culture, politics, national security and defense, and more.
U.S. technology experts say the meeting, led by senior White House and State Department officials on the American side, offers a glimpse into Beijing's thinking on AI at a time when China is generally reticent about the technology. states that it may be possible.
Jason Glassberg, co-founder of Casaba Security in Redmond, Washington, an expert on the new threats posed by AI, said the conference was a meeting of the minds, with little tangible results. He said he would encourage talks between the two sides. .
“The most important thing right now is that both sides recognize that they have a lot to lose if AI is weaponized or misused,” Glassberg said in an email. “Everyone involved is equally at risk. One of the biggest areas of risk right now is deepfakes, especially those used in disinformation campaigns.”
“This is just as much of a risk to China as it is to the U.S. government,” he added, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Paul Schall, an AI expert at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank, said: “It is critical that the US and China begin a frank discussion about how to improve the security of AI. The impact is huge.” A serious accident may occur. ”
He noted that the United States has committed to constant human surveillance for the use of nuclear weapons in 2022. However, the Chinese military did not do the same.
“Ensuring strict human control over nuclear weapons appears to be a low bar for agreement on military AI,” said Schaal, author of Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Stated. “As the world's leading economic, military, and technological powers, an agreement between the United States and China on how to manage AI risks could help prepare other countries to follow suit.”
It was not immediately clear why the talks were being held in Geneva, but the internationally-minded Swiss city bills itself as a center for diplomacy, the United Nations and international organizations.
The Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations agency currently headed by American Doreen Bogdan-Martin and previously run by China's Huiling Zhao, will hold its annual conference in the city later this month. We are planning to hold a conference called “AI for Good.''
The meeting will be the first to build on the intergovernmental dialogue on AI agreed to during a multilateral meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden in San Francisco six months ago.
The U.S. government has sought to put some guardrails around this technology, encouraging its growth while exploring its potential to benefit economic output and jobs.
Meanwhile, Western experts say the Chinese government has partially kept a lid on AI applications due to actual or potential applications in military and surveillance operations under the ruling Communist Party. It suggests that it is.
U.S. officials have signaled they will consider ways to reduce potential risks posed by the technology by making voluntary commitments with major companies in the field and requiring safety testing of AI products.
