The terms artificial intelligence was first coined at a 1956 conference at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire. It is no wonder then the as its birthplace, the US would be the leading country in terms of AI research. Surprisingly, that used to be true a couple of years ago but the current reality is, China has overtaken the United States in this area.
It can't be blamed if people find this hard to believe because it happened so fast. This was revealed by to AI expert Kai-Fu Lee who founded the China-US fund Sinovation, during the TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco event.
"People assume that because the U.S. is so strong in AI research, that the U.S. should dominate. But actually, China is catching up really fast."
As if it's not surprising enough that China was able to beat the US, what's even more amazing is the speed at which the Asian country did it. Apparently, it only took China two years of research to catch up, Lee added.
A perfect example of China's surprising edge over the US in AI can be found in the recent developments in the electronics sectors. On Friday, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei unveiled its latest artificial intelligence chip, according to CNBC.
Huawei unveiled its latest pride and joy - the Kirin 980 chipset - at Berlin's IFA consumer electronics show. The seven-nanometer processor is intended as one of the components of the company's upcoming flagship called Mate 20 which is already scheduled for release in October 2018.
If Huawei's plans for the Mate 20 release pushes through, it would be the first company in the world to feature a seven-nanometer processor in its product. Current gen chipsets are bigger and measure 10 nanometers. This would also mean that the phone manufacturer finally beat US-based Apple, which also confirms Chinese manufacturers emerging dominance in consumer electronics AI.
But China's growing edge in artificial intelligence might be also causing concerns not only in the world of business but also in the US military as well as its Western allies. According to a Wired article, AI and machine learning will increasingly be utilized across "the whole spectrum of military operations; from improved strategic thinking, down to low-level tactical applications, like controlling swarms of autonomous unmanned weapons systems."
King's College London defense studies department's Kenneth Payne says, "Ultimately war is about decision-making. And AI, above all else, is a decision-making technology." Payne added that AI will become also important in other key areas such as weapons design and testing, logistics, and in the cyber warfare.
Given the importance of AI in the future of warfare and military technologies, there are some who believe that Elon Musk and Deep Mind-led pledge not to develop lethal AI weapons systems may not be to the US and the West's best interests, especially since there seems to be no such movement initiated by the tech companies of the East. NATO senior adviser Sandro Gaycken is one of those few people who believe that such movement might be giving China "an asymmetric advantage."
As Gaycken puts it, "These naive hippy developers from Silicon Valley don't understand - the CIA should force them."
Indeed, whether for military or business advantage, it might be best for the US not to fall behind in the AI race.
