Former Google chief Eric Schmidt has revealed he is ‘very concerned’ that Russia and China are leading the race on artificial intelligence.
Schmidt flagged the risk of their commercial as well as military aspirations, saying their lead in AI could help them conquer the world.
It follows his warning last year that China will overtake the US in AI by 2025.
The former Google chief Eric Schmidt (pictured) has revealed he ‘very concerned’ Russia and China could use AI to get world domination
Speaking at BBC’s Tomorrow’s World Live at London’s Science Museum with Professor Brian Cox, Schmidt, 62, admitted he worries about what rival countries could do with their technology.
‘I’m very concerned about this’, he said in response to a question from a member of the audience about the AI race between China and Russia.
‘I think that both the Russian and the Chinese leaders have recognised the value of this, not just for their commercial aspirations, but also their military aspirations’, he told the audience, writes Daily Star.
‘It is very, very important that the incredible engines that exist in Europe, and Britain, wherever, United States etc, get more funding for basic research, ethics and so forth’, he said.
Schmidt said he would like the US and Europe to deal with Russian competition not by copying their approach but by ‘being more like us’.
‘Let’s outrun them with our own intelligence, rather than any other outcome’, he said.
‘I’m very concerned about this’, Schmidt said in response to a question from a member of the audience about the AI race between China and Russia (stock image)
Last year Schmidt slammed Trump’s government for falling behind the Chinese government when it came to AI.
‘I’m assuming our [US] lead will continue over the next five years and then that China will catch up extremely quickly,’he told the Center for New American Security’s Paul Scharre at the Artificial Intelligence & Global Security Summit on Wednesday, according to Defense One.
‘We need to get our act together, as a country…This is the moment when the [US] government collectively, and private industry, needs to say, ‘these technologies are important.’
In July last year, China unveiled its national plan for the future of artificial intelligence.
‘By 2020, they will have caught up. By 2025, they will be better than us. By 2030, they will dominate the industries,’ Schmidt said.
Trump’s 2018 budget request slashes funds for basic science and research by $4.3 billion (£3 billion), roughly 13 per cent compared to 2016.
‘It feels, as an American, that we are fighting this conflict with one hand behind our back.
The ex-Alphabet boss has previously warned the Chinese are poised to erase the American advantage and that the Trump administration is key in helping them
Earlier in the year Schmidt also revealed he is an ‘AI denier’.
‘I’ve taken the position of ‘job elimination denier,’ he told an audience at MIT according to CNBC.
‘I’ve just decided I’m going to be contrarian, because the data supports me, and it’s more fun to be in opposition anyway,’ he said.
Still, ‘there’s no question that there’s job dislocation. But there [are] always new solutions,’ he said.
‘The economic folks would say that you can see the job that’s lost, but you very seldom can see the job that’s created.’
Artificial Intelligence has been described as a threat that could be ‘more dangerous than nukes’.
One group of scientists and entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, have signed an open letter promising to ensure AI research benefits humanity.
The letter warns that without safeguards on intelligent machines, mankind could be heading for a dark future.
The document, drafted by the Future of Life Institute, said scientists should seek to head off risks that could wipe out mankind.
The authors say there is a ‘broad consensus’ that AI research is making good progress and would have a growing impact on society.