China's Brightest Children Are Being Recruited To Develop AI 'Killer Bots' (scmp.com) 206
According to The South China Morning Post, "some of China's smartest students have been recruited straight from high school to begin training as the world's youngest AI weapons scientists." A total of 27 boys and four girls all under the age of 18 were chosen for the four-year "experimental program for intelligent weapons systems" at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) from more than 5,000 candidates. From the report: The BIT is one of the country's top weapons research institutes, and the launch of the new program is evidence of the weight it places on the development of AI technology for military use. "These kids are all exceptionally bright, but being bright is not enough," said a BIT professor who was involved in the screening process but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject. "We are looking for other qualities such as creative thinking, willingness to fight, a persistence when facing challenges," he said. "A passion for developing new weapons is a must ... and they must also be patriots."
Each student will be mentored by two senior weapons scientists, one from an academic background and the other from the defense industry, according to the program's brochure. After completing a short program of course work in the first semester, the students will be asked to choose a speciality field, such as mechanical engineering, electronics or overall weapon design. They will then be assigned to a relevant defense laboratory where they will be able to develop their skills through hands-on experience.
Each student will be mentored by two senior weapons scientists, one from an academic background and the other from the defense industry, according to the program's brochure. After completing a short program of course work in the first semester, the students will be asked to choose a speciality field, such as mechanical engineering, electronics or overall weapon design. They will then be assigned to a relevant defense laboratory where they will be able to develop their skills through hands-on experience.
Not to forget a malleable personality (Score:1)
Gotta catch'em young before they learn about social structures and, the party does not allow, start to experiment with those
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China thinks it can go on with war, without forgetting the economic consequences of one. Human stupidity has no bounds.
Re:Many AI Killer Bots or 1 Atom Boi (Score:5, Funny)
China obviously wants war. Why else would they put their country right next to so many American military bases?
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China obviously wants war. Why else would they put their country right next to so many American military bases?
All told, there are over 32 American Military Bases less than 400 miles from China !
Yep, you're right, as always, Shanghai Bill.
CHINA DESPERATELY WANTS WAR !!!
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Roman Republic was famous for doing just that. They allied with smaller countries, they don't give a rat's ass about, who were targets of their rivals. They wanted an excuse to go to war. War with justification goes down so well in the history books rather than blood thirsty conquest.
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The way the Roman Empire expanded, they established peace treaties with smaller countries in exchange for wealth and a supply of recruits for the legions. In return the country gets defended as part of the empire.
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>History is written by the victors, not the conquered.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but actually most Roman history - especially after the Roman conquest of Greece - was written by Greeks. The Roman aristocracy spoke Greek, just as most of the Plantagenet kings of England and Russians at the court of the Tsar spoke French.
Julius Caesar's last words were not, "Et tu, Brute!" bu "Kai su, teknon" ("You too, lad?")
Re: Many AI Killer Bots or 1 Atom Boi (Score:2)
That's the geopolitical equivalent of yelling "hey, look over there!". Cute little trick to misdirect the simpleminded, but absolutely devoid of any substance.
Maybe the Chinese kids can upgrade NPCs (Score:2)
with a sense of humor ?
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I honestly can't tell if that was meant as satire or seriously. If it was satire, you need to dial it back a little so people realise you're not in earnest.
If you're in earnest, I'm sorry I disturbed your delusions.
Re: Many AI Killer Bots or 1 Atom Boi (Score:1)
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China obviously wants war. Why else would they put their country right next to so many American military bases?
I think it is past time that the US substantially reduces its troop presence in Japan and Korea (as well as Germany, Italy and the UK). Yes, the US does have worldwide interests and might want a few bases overseas and forward deployed supplies for logistical reasons, but WWII is long over and the level of troop presence is clearly reflective of post WWII occupation rather than modern military requirements for keeping the peace.
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also the china owned land / Companys in usa will be lost to china as soon as the war starts.
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Yeah, it's unbelievable that China still thinks it can go on with the war. It's been what, 17 years in Afghanistan for example and the conflict keeps going despite massive casualties, a bill in the of over 2 trillion that could have been used more productively and no end in sight. [businessinsider.com] It's almost like this is a problem that cannot be solved with military force, but stubborn China and their massive fleet of aircraft carries and overseas bases doesn't seem to care. Gotta kill the terrorists until there are no lon
Is this real?... (Score:2)
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May you always have your beer far away enough from your keyboard/laptop ....
Re: Is this real?... (Score:1)
And in the long run, the children themselves became the national resources to exploit. Graf made it his mission to keep those kids off of Earth and not subject to the nation's whims, but in control of a 'cooperative', the International Fleet.
Does China's actions set the stage for a Battle School in the Lagrange point?
sounds a little like the hitler youth is war comin (Score:2)
sounds a little like the hitler youth is war coming?
Re:sounds a little like the hitler youth is war co (Score:5, Informative)
Selective abortion.
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youth is war coming?
Yup, all states are preparing for the political awakening of the masses of the globe, they are expecting conflict.
Zbigniew Brezinski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
A tale of two nations (Score:1)
While China's Brightest Children Are Being Recruited To Develop AI 'Killer Bots' [scmp.com] America's Brightest Children Are Being Punished To Coop Up Inside A Class Full Of Mentally Challenged, Disadvantaged, Disempowered Minority Children [reddit.com], All In The Name Of MULTI-CULTURALISM !!
All Hail America - The Nation Which Punishes Bright Children !!
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You may be right about the exponential tech-up.
But why do you think China will be the same after that? Today's China is nothing like Mao's China or the Imperial China from before that. It continues to change. Tomorrow's well-educated Chinese will ask for even more changes in their society.
US today is not like the US from 100 years ago. And tomorrow's China will not be today's China.
I am not worried about the Chinese. They are a practical people and mean well. I am only impressed about all the fresh-off-the-
Ender's Game meets the Termiator (Score:2, Interesting)
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Gaps (Score:2, Funny)
Mr President, we must not allow a killer bot gap!
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If I was a member of the ruling class (Score:5, Insightful)
Kill bots let me do away that problem. Now all I need is a couple of geeky engineers to run my military and oppress everybody else. Mix in automated factories for making my stuff and I don't even need consumers. I can just own everything and use the ownership to decide who lives and who dies, giving me ultimate power.
And as a member of the ruling class, what else is there for me?
Re:If I was a member of the ruling class (Score:5, Funny)
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Give the geeks a lot of freshly printed money.
This. (Score:3)
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Killbots might be worse than a human army. Turning humans against the ruling class requires many different tactics and is a prolonged process. Turning killbots against them is a single exploit, a buffer overflow leading to code injection somewhere.
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automated kill bots would be my #1 priority. Throughout history the one thing that has consistently challenged my rule has been the military I use to keep power. Specifically charismatic leaders I needed to whip the troops into the kind of frenzy they need to die for me.
Kill bots let me do away that problem. Now all I need is a couple of geeky engineers to run my military and oppress everybody else. Mix in automated factories for making my stuff and I don't even need consumers. I can just own everything and use the ownership to decide who lives and who dies, giving me ultimate power.
And as a member of the ruling class, what else is there for me?
As a geeky engineer I hope they buy that line of reasoning.
Misdirected? (Score:1)
I don't see why automated soldiers should be a high priority for the 2nd most populated country in the world. They have plenty of organic brains to hunt and aim.
Unless maybe they feel the only way to attack a mass swarm of AI drones is with another mass swarm of AI drones.
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The fact that this was publicly announced just means it's a PR stunt by the Beijing Institute of Technology. If you think about it, all it says is "we've recruited our first class for a new four-year program that will likely be relevant in the future weapons development industry."
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Another advantage is... (Score:1)
They are young enough to be morally programmable, and not wise enough to think about possible negative global consequences of their efforts...
I hope they feel more secure... ??? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Why love the only fascist ethnostate left? When their Han-nationalism ends, only then will the Chinese people enter the modern world.
Small step (Score:5, Insightful)
Once you have AI killer bots to defend the homeland, it's only a small step to use them to keep your own population in check.
Right, evil China as always (Score:1)
wasn't it China who has been carrying out military excursions and invasions into other foreign countries during much of the 20th century, and the last 15 years? Or was that some other country?
Difference between China and U.S. is that China has a defense budget, U.S. has an invasion budget. Don't try to make China out as aggressive. History has shown that they are the most peaceful superpower to ever exist, while the U.S. is corrupt and thrives on making war.
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Brains are still malleable.
It's a pretty straight forward concept, actually.
Autonomous killer bots are not OK (Score:2)
I think that the international community must stand up against things such as this.
If China will not close down its program by itself, a coalition will need to be formed to bomb the Chinese sites where this is taking place, to prevent it from happening.
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They don't, because there's nothing to fear.
You want to be scared of the projects like this that you DON'T know of. Hint; they're probably not situated in China.
The fastest way to create AI weapons is (Score:2)
Step one: Get yourself some bright youngsters, strip away the bits you don't need and stick the rest in a mobile weapons platform.
Step two: Lie, telling everyone you created a true AI killbot. Oh, and tell the parents there was a terrible accident.
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And that's how Cylon Raiders are made.
Re:Proof that China is sexist (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope you understand, that "pretending to be an asshole on the internet" just means you actually are an asshole.
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A socially acceptable guy who willingly blinds himself to the truth is still willingly blind to the truth.
(The trick is to be an asshole about the actual truth instead of your delusions of truth.)
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You need to re-read my comment.
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What about it was false?
Why are you acting like telling the truth and acting like an asshole are mutually exclusive?
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Truth tellers are seldom popular. The concept of "don't say vicious things" is a fine theory. In practice, as we have discovered over the last 10-20 years, if you let the hearer/reader decide what is vicious, suddenly, everything that everyone says is vicious. This is what our ancestors knew that we have mostly forgotten - that once you embrace the idea that it is legitimate for offensive speech to be constrained by force, the free-thinking world descends into endless multilateral outrage.
I believe that
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I believe that you love justice and truth and cooperation.
I believe in informing people when they demonstrate bad behavior. I also believe you are full of yourself and literally have provided nothing of value to this conversation. Wait, let me put it in your preferred tongue: hey, shitstick, fuck off before you need your panties changed.
Poor truth tellers like me just can't get a break, right? ;)
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You either have to accept that the skinheads are going to get their chance to speak, or accept that you'll never be able to speak freely on any subject ever again.
Indeed, down the path of hate speech laws lies the dystopian hell of...Germany? Canada? England?
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What about it was false? Asians are regularly discriminated against for the crime of studying hard and having good values. The patriarchy isn't very popular in universities either.
Is that why nearly my entire graduate classes are Asians these days? They seem to be doing alright.
he is an ass but he has a slight point (Score:2)
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Being right and being an asshole were never mutually exclusive. All that means is that he's a right asshole. ;)
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Does that mean he is better than a left asshole?
Or is it more as in, one right does not cure one wrong, but 3 lefts do?
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I DO think we have a problem when people strive for equality of outcome (...) We should absolutely get equality of opportunity, because this is the moral things to do
The problem with that distinction is that equality of opportunity cannot exist if people are born with different talents and backgrounds. Consider it this way: if we define a point in time t0 at which the "equal opportunity" race begins, at the end of which, let's call it t1, some will have won in terms of outcomes while others will have lost, that ignores that t0 itself is the set of different outcomes of a race that began at t-1. In fact, you can set t0 at any point in the life of the individual, or even
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I'll agree that inequality of outcome is not evidence of discrimination, per se. However, given the way that the human brain over-generalizes patterns, I can pretty much guarantee that in any situation where there might naturally be inequality of outcome, there is almost certainly discrimination taking place as our brains try to eliminate the "anamolous" minority that our brain is desperately trying to "prove" don't belong.
We structure society to eliminate the minority; our brains constantly tell us that t
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Sad but true (Score:2)
You missed the requisite genderfluid whatevers and the effort to put in a code of conduct so contributions to the project become irrelevant.
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