Meta’s Llama AI Reportedly Adapted for Chinese Military Use, Sparking U.S. Concerns
Defense officials in the United States are worried about how China’s military is using Meta’s Llama AI for strategic reasons.
Chinese military experts have changed Meta’s open-source AI model, Llama, to make it better at gathering information and making decisions on the battlefield. Reuters recently reported that three well-known Chinese research institutions with ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) made “ChatBIT,” an AI tool designed for military use that was based on an early version of Llama.
Meta doesn’t let the military use it, but because Llama is open-source, it has been changed without permission. Meta was against this change and stressed how important open innovation is, even though it is hard to enforce usage rules. This shows how hard it is to keep open-source AI technologies from being abused, especially since countries like China want to use AI for both military and civilian protection.
Because of rising concerns about the impact of AI on security, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is closely monitoring these trends. In their opinion, the application of AI in military causes suggests that AI is going to be used in the global competition in technology. Nand Mulchandani, who formerly served as the CIA’s CTO, discussed how generative AI programs could be of high value to the military’s kinds of intelligence analysis. As good as they may be, he also cautioned that AI had weaknesses and that important choices ought to be made by people alone.
According to military experts Benjamin Jensen and Dan Tadross, research shows that large language models (LLMs) like Llama can make operational planning a lot better by combining huge amounts of data. Chinese researchers changed Meta’s Llama AI model so that it can be used by the military.
Chinese military experts have changed Meta’s open-source AI model, Llama, to make it better at gathering information and making decisions on the battlefield. Reuters recently reported that three well-known Chinese research institutions with ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) made “ChatBIT,” an AI tool designed for military use that was based on an early version of Llama.
Researchers Benjamin Jensen and Dan Tadross say that LLMs (large language models) like Llama can make tactical planning a lot better by putting together huge amounts of data.
Another new development in military decision-making is Agentic AI, which can do complicated jobs on its own. According to experts, this technology could make operating processes more efficient, which would make military orders more timely and accurate.
As countries rush to use AI in their war strategies, the risks and moral issues that could arise from these technologies are still very much under the spotlight. Researchers warn that using AI in the military without full protection could cause dangerous behaviors to get worse without purpose, especially when there is a lot at stake.
AI technology is always getting better, especially with models like Meta’s Llama. These improvements could have a huge impact on how military operations are done in the future, so it’s important to be careful when using these improvements for strategic reasons.
