Staff Reports
To challenge the increasing supremacy of China in the field of artificial intelligence, a pair of House lawmakers from both parties are mobilizing Western countries to establish a unique alliance. The Five AIs Act, introduced by Republican Representative Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin and Democrat Representative Ro Khanna from California, aims to harness the capabilities of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing program in order to establish an AI-centric partnership.
Lawmakers want new Western alliance for AI to counter China https://t.co/k6jFYe5Eew
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 21, 2023
At present, the Five Eyes alliance, which consists of the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, facilitates the exchange of sensitive information. Gallagher and Khanna are of the opinion that in order to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from monopolizing the technology, this alliance should also encompass AI development.
The importance of the Free World maintaining its leadership position in AI innovation while simultaneously implementing essential safeguards to prevent adversarial misuse was underscored by Gallagher. The leaders of the House Armed Services Cyber Subcommittee have put forth a proposal that seeks to improve collaboration between the intelligence community and the Defense Department regarding the application of artificial intelligence for military and intelligence objectives.
Artificial intelligence empowers machines to execute intricate tasks through the application of sophisticated computation and statistical analysis. While artificial intelligence has been in existence for a number of years, governments and intelligence services have recently begun to assess the practical applications of potent AI products. For example, the National Security Agency has implemented an AI Security Center with the purpose of examining and evaluating AI technologies. In addition to U.S. partners, this center will engage in partnerships with industry, national laboratories, academia, designated foreign entities, and the Defense Department.
It is noteworthy to mention that predating the widespread adoption of ChatGPT, the chatbot that engrossed the public this year, the Pentagon had initiated trials of generative AI tools. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks confirmed that internal models were being tested under human supervision at the Department of Defense.
The objective of Western nations in forming this proposed alliance is to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their military and intelligence capacities, thereby impeding China's efforts to attain a technological edge. Given the anticipated substantial impact of artificial intelligence across multiple sectors, it is imperative that democratic nations work together to establish responsible guidelines governing its implementation.
