Regulation could allow China to dominate in the artificial intelligence race, experts warn: 'We will lose'

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Tech experts warned that premature regulation of artificial intelligence could give China a leg up, allowing the country to meet its goals of dominating the world in technology. 

"The United States is in a relatively precarious position, and we have to make sure we move fastest on the technology," Alexandr Wang, the founder and CEO of Scale AI said at the Milken Institute Global Conference Monday. 

China has released plans to make the country the global leader in AI by 2030, as well as a National Innovation-Driven Development Strategy for use by the country’s military. 

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Panelists speak about artificial intelligence at the Milken Institute Global Conference.  (Milken Institute)

Wang compared the current status of artificial intelligence to WWII, when the countries that were "able to most rapidly integrate new technologies into their warfighting and into their defense and intelligence procedures come out on top." 

"I think artificial intelligence is a technology that has the capability of shifting the balance of diplomatic power," he added.

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And while the United States may be winning the AI race now, experts warned that may not be the case if Congress implements regulation without a thorough understanding of the impact it would have on our technological development.

Members of Congress have begun discussoins about regulating artificial intelligence. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

"Fundamentally, we are in a bit of a race right now in terms of empowering our country with these sorts of technologies," Elad Gil said. "One of the concerns I have is there has been a lot of calls recently for AI regulation, and it appears to be incredibly one-sided. I haven’t heard the case against it being made, it seems like everyone is making the case for more regulation of AI. That seems premature on a few levels." 

Gill added that calls to regulate AI could impact the balance of power between the United States and China. 

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But, despite the potential for China to take the lead in the AI race, Ashton Kutcher, whose venture capital firm Sound Ventures has invested millions in AI, said the country faces challenges due to its authoritarian regime. 

"The bigger thing to look at is the dynamics in China. They cannot afford to have a model that is outputting something that is not predictable. Because if it outputs in favor of issues that they are not in favor of, then that’s a problem." Kutcher said, adding that the technology behind Chinese AI models would need tweaked to ensure no outcomes contradicted with the communist party’s stance, which could reduce the model’s quality.

Calls to regulate artificial intelligence came after OpenAI released ChatGPT last year. (Getty images)

"I think it is a geopolitical race between the U.S. and China, and if we start to pull back reins too quickly, we will lose. Right now we have an advantage," Kutcher added. "If we hamstring these companies too deeply, we’re going to end up on the losing side of the equation."

Wang also called on tech companies developing artificial intelligence programs to proactively engage with the federal government for military and defense uses of the technology. 

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"From a national security perspective, we need to be all systems go, because the reality is, China is trying actively to eat our lunch, and is ahead," he said.