China is developing AI systems not just to enhance its military - but to compensate for a fundamental weakness within it. A Georgetown University study of thousands of PLA procurement documents has found the Chinese military building AI decision-support tools partly because its own political and military leaders "do not trust the PLA's chain of command."
Researchers Sam Bresnick, Emelia S. Probasco, and Cole McFaul of Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology published their findings in Foreign Affairs, as "Hvylya" reports.
Beijing's concern is straightforward: the PLA has minimal real combat experience and its leaders worry the force "will be overmatched in a rapidly evolving conflict." AI decision-support systems offer a way to understand and anticipate an adversary's movements, potentially offsetting the disadvantage of inexperienced commanders. The procurement documents show heavy investment in tools that ingest and analyze massive datasets to support both tactical and strategic decision-making.
The approach carries significant risk. The researchers warn the PLA may be "tempted to use AI decision-support systems as alternatives" to its inexperienced commanders - and that overreliance on AI-generated analyses "could lead to misinterpretation of military and diplomatic signals." Some of the decision-making technologies rely on open-source data, which adversaries could manipulate by flooding social media with false signals or disrupting commercial satellite imagery.
The approach marks a sharp divergence from U.S. military doctrine, which requires AI systems to involve "appropriate levels of human judgment" by trained and experienced personnel. American AI programs - such as the Defense Innovation Unit's Thunderforge project and Palantir's Maven Smart System - focus primarily on planning and battlefield awareness. The PLA, by contrast, is also building AI tools to track international news, identify foreign populations' political views, and predict social unrest.
Previously: European Generals Call It "Alchemy": Inside NATO's Adoption of AI-Powered Targeting.