How leading circles in the U.S. cynically justify the development of Artificial Intelligence weapon systems

By Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 30 January 2021, www.thecommunists.net

One of the most important duties of every socialist, in fact every reasonable person, is to refuse trusting the announcements and explanations of the ruling class, its institutions and its media. Everything must be approached with the highest possible suspicion, one must read between the lines and behind the words, try to discern elements of truth (if they exist at all) from the fog of lies and half-truths. One must understand that the bourgeois politicians and journalists have developed a whole discipline of art how to whitewash the bitter reality of capitalism and the evil intentions of its lords.

Here is an example, one could say a particularly cynical example, how representatives of the ruling class present their ill intentions in hypercritical moralistic language.

A few days ago, a government-appointed panel in the U.S., called the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, said in a draft report for Congress that the United States should not agree to ban the use or development of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) software. Furthermore, the panel’s report “recommended use of AI by intelligence agencies to streamline data gathering and review; $32 billion in annual federal funding for AI research; and new bodies including a digital corps modeled after the army’s Medical Corps and a technology competitiveness council chaired by the U.S. vice president.” [1]

This contrasts with the wishes of many states to ban AI from military use as discussions in the United Nations on this issue since 2014 have shown. It is not difficult to recognize the motivation behind the recommendations of the panel. We are living in a period of capitalist decay and ruptures in the world order. [2] Under such conditions it is inevitable that the rivalry between the imperialist Great Powers (U.S., China, Russia, EU, and Japan) is accelerating. [3] U.S. imperialism – the long-time hegemon which is declining while China is rising – tries to keep its military superiority by any means possible. The development of AI-powered weapon systems naturally provides an advantage for any imperialist Great Power.

Let us note in passing that this panel has been led by former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt. This confirms once more the Marxist thesis that imperialist capitalism is characterized by a close relationship between the big corporations, the state apparatus, and the military. This is hardly surprising. The corporations want to raise their profits, the army wants to increase its ability to kill and the purpose of the state in capitalism is to realize (and pay for) these interests. [4]

One does not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that all this is about developing even more deadly and effective killing machines in order to get an advantage in the global arms race between the Great Powers. It is equally clear that the Lords of Power and Money do not want to present openly their motivation. So they look for ways to conceal their desire for developing killer robots with “humanitarian” arguments. This can result in the most grotesque formulations.

The above-mentioned Reuters report quotes the panel’s Vice Chairman Robert Work, a former deputy secretary of defense, as saying that “autonomous weapons are expected to make fewer mistakes than humans do in battle, leading to reduced casualties or skirmishes caused by target misidentification. It is a moral imperative to at least pursue this hypothesis.”

You see, the U.S. imperialists want to develop AI-powered weapon systems not for killing more efficiently, not for winning future wars, not for raising the profits of high-tech and arms corporations. No, their motivation is solely humanitarian – they want to “reduce casualties”! Their concern for human lives is so big that they even call this a “moral imperative”!

What an extraordinary example of 1984-like language! There is a “moral imperative” to develop killer robots since they are humanitarian instruments! Of course, this is just one of many examples. Today, when Great Powers send troops in a foreign country they don’t call it “war” but “peacebuilding operation”.

Only naïve fools can trust the imperialists and their ideological PR-stunts. Unfortunately, today the virus of credulity has spread wide among the so-called left which blindly believes the ruling class which utilizes the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for launching an unprecedented counterrevolution by expanding the police and surveillance state and dramatically restricting democratic rights. [5] Those leftists who do not break down the propaganda lies of the ruling class – be it because of stupidity or because of evil intentions – are not socialists but useful idiots of the bourgeoise!