‘No harm to citizens’: Forrest facilitates historic US-China talks on AI, nuclear security

Moderated by John L. Thornton China Centre director Ryan Haas, the panel also included former Biden administration under-secretary of defence for policy and Brookings expert Dr Colin Kahl, Tsinghua University Centre for International Security and Strategy deputy director Xiao Qian, Tsinghua fellows Dr Dong Ting and Dr Lu Chuanying, former Brookings AI expert Dr Chris Meserole and Hoover Institute fellow Dr Jacqueline Schneider, whose research includes wargaming and crisis simulation.

Loading

Kahl praised Forrest’s input, saying the talks “would not be possible without the support of the Minderoo Foundation”.

“This ongoing series of meetings … has brought together consistent teams of US and Chinese experts on artificial intelligence and national security to examine where there is consensus and dissensus on boundaries around uses of artificial intelligence in national security,” he said.

“One of the areas of agreement that has come to light during our Track II discussions is the aim to keep humans in control of nuclear launch decisions. This past November, at the meeting of Presidents Biden and Xi in Lima, Peru, Presidents Biden and Xi endorsed this principle.”

After recently pledging $40 million in aid to Gaza, Forrest said Minderoo didn’t want to simply look at avoiding negative AI scenarios but also look at its benefits.

Loading

“It’s made massive life-saving contributions. Brain cancer, which has always been almost untreatable, is now starting to be cracked thanks to AI,” he said.

“The mantra behind all of this, Minderoo’s funding, our ability to make AI a friend of humanity, not a terrible enemy in the military, is a simple four word slogan: no harm to citizens.”