U) The China AI and Autonomy Report: Issue 12

In a PLA Daily article titled “Pay Attention to the Role of Humans in Unmanned Operations,” a researcher from the PLA Naval Research Academy discusses the role of humans in future warfare and argues that humans will still play an integral role in unmanned operations through the stages of technology development, operational planning, and execution.7 The author asserts that, despite the advantages o. [...] A PLA Daily article titled “Human-on-the-Loop: The Development Trend of Intelligentized Command Systems” explores the role of humans in future warfare, arguing that the trend of technology development will drive militaries to take a “human-on-the-loop” approach to the command and control (C2) of autonomous weapons.8 The article describes a “human-in-the-loop” approach as an intermediate stage of C. [...] On March 21, the General Office of China’s Communist Party and the General Office of the State Council published "Opinions on Strengthening the Ethical Governance of Science and Technology” (hereon referred to as “Opinions”).12 The “Opinions” outlines broad ethical principles for S&T, seeks to consolidate and strengthen oversight of an ethical governance system for S&T at national and local levels. [...] At the national level, the document highlights the role of the PRC’s National Science and Technology Ethics Committee (NSTEC), which was established in 2020, in guiding, coordinating, and promoting the PRC’s S&T ethical governance system.13 Officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), which manages the day-to-day work of NSTEC, held a press conference upon the release of the docum. [...] During the press conference held upon the release of the “Opinions,” a MOST official remarked that the principles chosen were based upon consensus from relevant parties and also from “learning from the experience of the international community.” AI in the new guidelines: AI, along with life sciences and medicine, is called out explicitly in the document.