China Aerospace Studies Institute 21 Aug 2023
China’s ChatGPT War
Josh Baughman
"Once technological advances can be used for military purposes and have been used for military
purposes, they will immediately almost forcefully, and often against the commander's will, cause
changes or even revolutions in warfare." - Friedrich Engels
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Earlier this year Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates stated ChatGPT, “will change our
world” and is “as significant as the invention of the internet”
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in an interview with German
business daily Handelsblatt. In the interview he focused on the way ChatGPT could impact the
workplace. Others, however, are looking at how ChatGPT-like programs using Generative AI
could impact warfighting. During an online interview in June with the Center for a New
American Security, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall stated he has asked his Scientific
Advisory Board to “look at the generative AI technologies like ChatGPT and think about the
military applications of them”.
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The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has also set up Task
Force Lima to leverage the possibilities of integrating AI systems into defense technologies.
Secretary Kendall and the DoD are not alone in considering the military applications of
ChatGPT. Over the past few months China’s People’s Liberation Army media has published a
multitude of articles on the topic. In one article, written by Retired Major General Hu Xiaofeng
(currently Professor at China’s National Defense University), he states, “Undoubtedly, the
cutting-edge technology of artificial intelligence represented by ChatGPT will inevitably be
applied in the military field”.
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In general, there is a consensus in the PLA media that Generative
AI has a place in warfare. Seven main areas of application are explored including: human-
machine interaction, decision making, network warfare, cognitive domain, logistics, space
domain, and training.
While the PLA media express a certain level of inevitability with the application of
ChatGPT-like programs in the battlefield there is also not a rush for significant integration into
military operations anytime soon. Three major concerns include: building a data set,
optimization, and low mutual trust of the technology. In addition, while not mentioned by the
PLA media, there is also the issue of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) itself. A program that
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Quote used in Retired Major General Hu Xiaofeng’s article “ChatGPT, How Should We View”. His use of the
quote is in reference to ChatGPT, but of note many Chinese military leaders use this quote for various emerging
technologies that can be applied to the battlefield. The message is clear, if technology can be used for war, it will be.
