Global AI Arms Race Accelerates as Governments Push Boundaries of Defense and Ethics
Autonomous Weapons, Voice Cloning, and Antibiotic Overuse Test AI's Ethical Limits
Hong Kong Hospitals to Leverage AI Against Rising Superbugs and Antibiotic Overuse
- COVID-19 pandemic led to sharp increase in antibiotic-resistant superbugs in Hong Kong hospitals
- Hospital Authority launching AI pilot at two hospitals in 2024 to analyze data and determine if antibiotic prescriptions are necessary
- Goal is to combat over-prescription and subsequent resistance
- Builds on previous successes using AI to discover new antibiotics
Experts Call for Community Engagement and Education to Guide AI Development
- Carnegie Mellon researchers recommend increased public engagement around AI systems
- Stress need for developers to involve impacted groups for proper evaluation before deployment
- Creative strategies likely required to actually engage non-technical stakeholders
- Education critical to build AI literacy and identify appropriate data sources
- Allegheny County’s use of AI in housing programs highlighted as a model combining human oversight and community benefit
Putin Pushes for AI Development to Counter Western "Monopoly"
- Putin warns Russia lagging behind Western AI capabilities
- Plans to boost investment, access to supercomputers, and scientific education
- Accuses West of building AI that ignores Russian culture and identity
- Announces upcoming presidential decree to massively expand national AI strategy
- Aims to advance generative models and apply them across sectors
- Unclear if brain drain and sanctions may hinder Putin's vision
Pentagon Races Rivals to Deploy Thousands of AI-Powered Weapons
- Announced Project Replicator: goal to deploy thousands of expendable AI drones by 2026
- Aims to close gap as Pentagon said to trail rivals in leveraging AI
- Space Force already using AI to autonomously track 40K+ objects in space
- Air Force leverages predictive AI to address maintenance for 2.6K aircraft
- Bureaucratic hurdles persist despite networked AI initiatives
- Officials pledge responsible use but admit urgent threats may compel deploying not-fully-tested systems
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Hong Kong Hospitals to Leverage AI Against Rising Superbugs and Antibiotic Overuse
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in broad-spectrum antibiotic prescriptions in Hong Kong, contributing to a rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs like vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and Candida auris. The VRE resistance rate rose from 0.22% in 2021 to 1.2% in 2023, while C. auris carriers jumped from 200 in 2020 to over 300 by October 2023. To tackle this, Hong Kong's Hospital Authority will launch an AI pilot in January 2024 at two hospitals to analyze clinical data and determine if antibiotic prescriptions are necessary. The AI will start with one common antibiotic and expand to cover eight others and 17 public hospitals. The goal is to combat overprescription and subsequent resistance. This builds on previous successes, like AI helping MIT and McMaster researchers discover a new antibiotic to kill the drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. With careful analysis of clinical data, AI could be a powerful tool in combating growing antibiotic resistance through responsible prescription practices.
Major Music Group Calls for New Laws Protecting Artists' Rights Amid AI Boom
Universal Music Group (UMG) submitted a extensive response to the U.S. Copyright Office's inquiry into AI and copyright, arguing that using copyrighted material to train AI models without permission is not fair use. UMG stated, "the wholesale appropriation of UMG’s enormous catalog...to build multibillion commercial enterprises is anything but fair use." They believe AI companies should have to license copyrighted content, which UMG says is feasible and something they already extensively do with streaming services and social media platforms.
UMG also adamantly opposed an opt-out system where copyright holders must affirmatively object to AI systems using their works. They argue AI firms should have to affirmatively seek consent, rather than put the burden on rightsholders to object. Additionally, UMG does not believe a human using an AI system can qualify as the "author" of its outputs since true authorship requires human expression.
Finally, UMG called for new federal laws, including establishing a right of publicity that applies to AI content to address unauthorized use of artists' voices and personas. They cited recent incidents of AI "voice cloning" UMG artists without consent as examples of why this law is needed. UMG believes prohibiting unauthorized AI voice models outright should be part of the statute. Overall, UMG's submission underscores their aggressive stance against copyright infringement via AI and desire for regulatory action protecting artists.
Experts Call for Community Engagement and Education to Guide AI Development
In a new report on deploying AI responsibly, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's Block Center for Technology and Society recommend increased community engagement and education around AI systems. Through a series of expert meetings, they identified four key areas - evaluation, procurement, engagement, and education.
The report stresses that AI developers should intentionally involve impacted groups early on to allow proper evaluation of models before deployment. However, creative strategies are likely needed to actually engage non-technical communities, like role-playing or developing shared values. Education is also critical so all levels of the workforce gain fluency in AI concepts and learn to identify appropriate data sources.
The report praises Allegheny County’s use of data-driven AI to improve housing and health outcomes for the homeless by carefully monitoring the system and keeping humans in the loop. However, uncontrolled AI systems can easily perpetuate bias, like prioritizing wealthy neighborhoods for road repairs or ignoring seniority in dividing housekeeping tasks.
Overall, the researchers argue that successful, ethical AI requires substantiative public engagement and education to guide appropriate development and evaluation. With thoughtful community involvement and training, AI systems can be effectively deployed in government and industry. But without intentional efforts to inform and include non-technical stakeholders, AI risks exacerbating existing inequities and barriers.
Pentagon Races Rivals to Deploy Thousands of AI-Powered Weapons
The Pentagon aims to rapidly expand its arsenal of AI-enabled autonomous vehicles to keep pace with China, announcing an ambitious initiative called Project Replicator to field thousands of low-cost, expendable drones by 2026. AI is already being utilized across defense operations, from surveillance drones to predicting aircraft maintenance needs. However, officials warn the Pentagon trails rivals in leveraging AI's revolutionary potential.
Project Replicator, though details remain vague, underscores the immense technological and workforce challenges in adopting cutting-edge AI innovations. While current Pentagon AI projects largely play assistive roles, augmenting human capabilities, experts say autonomous lethal weapons could be deployed within years as processing speeds and drone swarm communication advance.
Space is one domain where AI tools are tracking potential threats, autonomously monitoring over 40,000 objects in space for the Space Force's Machina prototype. Meanwhile, predictive AI helps the Air Force proactively address maintenance for over 2,600 aircraft. The military is also piloting a fitness tracking system for 13,000 soldiers and exploring AI analysis of radar data to detect incoming missiles.
With an AI arms race intensifying, the Pentagon aims to accelerate networked systems and data sharing through the Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative. However, bureaucratic hurdles persist alongside the struggle to attract scarce AI talent. While pledging responsible use, officials admit fully autonomous weapons with life-and-death decisions may be fielded from necessity before rigorous evaluation standards are in place.
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