China's 'thinking' submarine threatens US dominance at 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China is currently upgrading the outdated computer systems on its nuclear submarines.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 ocean can take a toll on the sailors’ psyche.

That's when artificial intelligence systems with the ability to think for themselves can help relieve the pressure on commanding officers, the Chinese researcher said.

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 the commanding officer with all the necessary information, such as the surrounding environment, salinity, temperature of the sea water, as well as give warnings about the enemy 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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Joe Marino, an American expert, commented: "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 that can destroy an entire continent but is capable of independent thinking,” Zhu said, referring to the kind of thing that 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 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 nuclear submarines are the same.”