How the US and China are partnering (reluctantly) to save the world
US and Chinese computer scientists are defying political bickering, and working together to set global ground rules to keep artificial intelligence within human control.
With government officials out of the room, US and Chinese scientists are trying to agree on guardrails for AI development, similar to limits the US and Russia agreed on nuclear testing in the 1960s. iStock
One day this March in the Summer Palace of Beijing, a tour guide was struggling to hold his group’s attention. Instead of taking in the magnificent pavilions of the imperial gardens, the tourists – a gaggle of Western and Chinese technology experts – were more interested in talking to each other. “I felt sorry for the guy,” one of them recalled. “People are walking around this UNESCO World Heritage site, and it’s, like, beautiful, but they’re arguing about AI.”
The squabbles had an edge. For over a year, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, had showcased the extraordinary leaps the technology was making. As big firms raced to develop their own faster, smarter products, debates intensified about how these models might evolve.
The Economist
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