China AI vs West: A Different Future?

KOMPAS.com – If you follow technology news these days, the narrative is almost always the same and easy to predict. The United States was busy blocking chip exports, then China responded by releasing a rival AI model.

Many observers are busy guessing who is “winning” in this artificial intelligence race.

The most crucial issue in the AI ​​era is not who succeeds in creating the smartest model. The real question is what a society with such intelligence would hope to achieve.

In this case, China is not simply following the trajectory set by the West. They are building their own finish line, as summarized KompasTekno from Asia Times.

In Silicon Valley, AI is treated like an exploration of a new frontier (frontier). His biggest ambition is to create a General Intelligence that can rival or even surpass human cognition.

The US government tends to be hands-off, letting private giants lead innovation and assuming that other sectors of the economy will eventually adapt themselves.

The main question for China is not how smart machines can think, but rather how that intelligence can be integrated and embedded into national infrastructure.

Instead of competing to inject funds into “crazy” research, China reversed the logic. Before AI can change society, the foundations must be built first.

It is not surprising that trillions of rupiah are being poured into building super-large data centers, building super-fast internet, and strengthening electricity networks.

The cost of building this infrastructure is not cheap. But imagine the benefits later. When this rough foundation is established, the steps to inject AI smart brains into the logistics sector, hospitals, banks, and even city planning will become much easier and cheaper.

Also read: 6 Chinese AI technologies that challenge US dominance

The roots of philosophy

To understand Beijing’s way of thinking, we have to look back a little, specifically to their cultural roots.

There are two ancient philosophies that strongly color the way they view future technology, Confucianism and Legalism.

Confucius’ teachings basically yearn for one thing, namely social harmony. Everyone has their own portion and role.

So, the greatness of AI there is not measured by its ability to free its users’ expression. AI is actually considered valuable if it can reduce chaos and keep society orderly.

So, the role of enforcing the rules is left to Legalism. The principle is simple, without rules and an “iron fist”, the system will definitely be dilapidated.