In a dangerous AI "arms race," China is exporting killer drone weapons and pilotless aircraft with AK-47 rifles to combat zones in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, U.K.'s The Sun reported.
Nicknamed "slaughterbots" in the report, the stealth weapons can deploy a targeted strike from the air "without a human pressing the fire button," per The Sun, citing a report by the U.S.'s Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
"Though many current generation drones are primarily remotely operated, Chinese officials generally expect drones and military robotics to feature ever more extensive AI and autonomous capabilities in the future," the think tank's Gregory C. Allen claims, per the report.
"Chinese weapons manufacturers already are selling armed drones with significant amounts of combat autonomy."
The report pointed to a "Blowfish A2 drone" advertised as having "full autonomy all the way up to targeted strikes," according to Allen.
Most automated drones in the U.S. are merely for reconnaissance or surveillance, per the report, but China is "more aggressive about introducing greater levels of autonomy closer to lethal use of force," Allen claims.
An executive from a large Chinese defense company says drones are "like the hand of the human body" and future military AI will compare to "the brain," per The Sun.
"Mechanized equipment is just like the hand of the human body," Zeng Yi said, per the report. "In future intelligent wars, AI systems will be just like the brain of the human body."
". . . AI may completely change the current command structure, which is dominated by humans . . . [to the] AI cluster."
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