On Jan 11, 2020, a dinner discussion themed on “Artificial Intelligence and Governance” was held during the second International Forum on Strategy and Security. Experts and scholars in vited to the Seminar exchanged opinions about AI governance with representatives of Chinese enterprise, professors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Max Tegmark, co-founder of the Future of Life Institute.
Max Tegmark, President of Future of Life Institute
Representatives of Chinese enterprise introduced their participation in AI governance at home. It is observed that AI, as an emerging technology increasingly involved in social development, is changing people’s work and lives. Enterprises should therefore respect ethics and observe laws and regulations, shoulder social responsibilities, and actively implement China’s policies on AI governance.
Representatives also briefed their international cooperation projects, and stressed the particular importance of international cooperation among different enterprises in today’s international situation.
Max Tegmark held that the security challenges brought by AI should be jointly addressed by entrepreneurs, scientists and policy-makers. For example, scientists have come to the consensus about a complete ban on lethal autonomous weapons that especially worry the international community. However, AI is not developed to intensify conflicts among countries, but improve well-beings for all and promote international cooperation and relations among countries. He believed that all the countries share the common interests in emerging technologies, so they should have more communication and exchanges through multiple channels, one of which is cooperation among enterprises. Cooperation among countries should start from issues with the utmost consensus. China and the US, for instance, can start their dialogue regarding non-proliferation of dangerous AI technologies.
Attendees paid close attention to the impact of AI development on China-US relations. Zhang Wang, Vice President of SenseTime Group, stated that relevant international cooperation is indispensable. SenseTime is carrying out effective cooperation with MIT, which includes both commercialization of scientific and research findings and basic research, and this is of great significance to the long-term development of the company and the industry as a whole.
Xu Yuncheng, Chief Operating Officer of Megvii Inc., believed that international cooperation on AI governance can improve China-US relations. AI algorithm can become an important area for the cooperation between the two countries, because it is the essence of AI technology other than data.
Li Ying, Vice President of Baidu, pointed out that the “decoupling” between China and the US is not the enterprises’ expectation, but if it were to happen, the only thing the enterprises can do is to focus on their own development. China boasts a huge market that promises many opportunities, and what is left to us to think about is how to solve our own problems.
He Shanshan, Director of Autonomous Vehicle Legal Resource Center at China Intelligent and Connected Vehicles (Beijing) Research Institute Co., Ltd. (CICV), also emphasized the importance of international cooperation and mutual understanding. She took the example of China’s development of autonomous cars, and mentioned that in spite of their different purposes, ethics and laws, countries can gradually build mutual understanding in communication.
Yu Yang, Assistant Professor of Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences at Tsinghua University, hosted the dinner. International Forum on Strategy and Security organized by CISS happens at the beginning of each year in Beijing.
