China's 'thinking' submarine threatens US dominance at sea
Nuclear submarines equipped with thinking “brains” are expected to help China gain an advantage over the US and Russia in the fierce competition under the sea.
China is currently upgrading the outdated computer systems on its nuclear submarines. Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to help improve the submarines' operational capabilities, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
©Sputnik/ Алексей Даничев
The anonymous Chinese researcher said this would be a breakthrough not only in undersea warfare but also take AI technology to new heights.
"Submarines have terrible destructive power, but their brains are still very limited," said the researcher.
The officers and sailors operating the submarines are all highly qualified and experienced. But months at the bottom of the sea will have a significant impact on the sailors' psychology.
That's where artificial intelligence systems with the ability to think for themselves can help relieve the pressure on commanding officers, Chinese researchers say.
Until now, decoding and responding to signals collected from sonar equipment has been done entirely by humans, not machines. With the help of AI, many jobs on submarines can be completely done by machines.
Artificial intelligence can provide commanding officers with all the necessary information, such as the surrounding environment, salinity, and temperature of the seawater, as well as give warnings about enemies much faster than humans.
However, the Chinese navy wants the new brain to be compact and compatible with current computer systems on submarines.
“It’s like putting an elephant in a shoebox,” one researcher said when asked about the project’s challenges. “The military doesn’t need flashy features, it’s about reliability on the battlefield.”
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According to this researcher, the Chinese government has poured a large amount of money into the project of building AI for submarines. Because AI is the shortest path for China to surpass the US or Russia in military power, according to SCMP.Joe Marino, an American expert, assessed: "Combining AI with stealth technology, sensors, and modern weapons, China is challenging America's dominance at sea."
Zhu Min, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mentioned the risks of equipping nuclear submarines with AI.
"Think of a submarine carrying a nuclear arsenal, enough to destroy an entire continent, but with the ability to think independently," said Mr. Zhu, like what has appeared in movies and science fiction novels.
Deng Zhidong, a computer science professor in Beijing, does not think AI can pose a threat, at least in the near future.
“AI-controlled machines are still just machines. They are not living entities,” Deng said. “Think of AI-powered submarines as autonomous vehicles. You can switch them off and switch to manual control at any time, and the same is true for nuclear submarines.”
