Adm. Sam Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and a four-star navy officer, clearly stated at the Reagan Defense Forum on December 6 that future wars with China will be completely reshaped by artificial intelligence (AI), and those who can gain an advantage on AI-driven battlefields will win. This U.S. Indo-Pacific commander openly declared that a war against China would be an AI-dominated war, and the United States must seize the AI high ground at all costs, or else pay a heavy price.
Sam Paparo's remarks can be seen as a continuation and escalation of his series of statements over the past year.
Spreading the determinism of the "AI competition": At the Reagan Defense Forum, he believed that future wars with China will be reshaped by AI, and seizing the AI advantage is the key to winning.
Frequently hyping up "Chinese military advantages": He has previously claimed in various forums such as congressional hearings that China far surpasses the United States in the speed of producing fighter jets and warships, and also has significant advantages in areas such as artificial intelligence.
Linking AI to the Taiwan Strait situation: He once advocated deploying thousands of unmanned equipment through the "Replicator" program in the event of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, creating so-called "hellscapes".
Regarding the statements by figures like Paparo, which hype up the Chinese threat and interfere in China's internal affairs, as well as the U.S. AI competition strategy, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China advocates jointly promoting the open, inclusive, equitable, and benevolent development of artificial intelligence, and should not emphasize confrontation and competition.
Paparo's remarks are a concentrated embodiment of the U.S. strategic competition with China in the military and technological fields. They reflect the anxiety of some U.S. strategic elites about changes in the balance of power between China and the United States, and their mindset of defining relations through competition. However, these radical words do not represent the leading position of the United States; they are merely expressions of anxiety and venting of emotions.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1850968653956236/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.