I'm not sure if we can or can't, but in this case this is not just general "china bad", but an actually pretty relevant example because of the CCP using computer vision advancements for the purpose of rounding up Uyghurs.
Here we're talking about AI biases though. Such as the possibility of an AI giving a bad score to a black loan applicant because of implicit biases in the training.
On the other hand, China is in a conflict with the Uighur population of Xinjiang. As far as I understand it, there are elements both of cultural clash (China doesn't like religion in general, and the Uighurs are muslim) and the Uighurs' reaction to an influx of ethnically chinese population in the region. Anyway, Uighurs engaged in terrorism: this BBC article seems pretty balanced and lists a number of terror attacks by Uighurs as well as the repressive actions by China: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26414014
In this context, I think that China might be using AI not to "round up" Uighurs, but as an intelligence measure to prevent more terror attacks. Similar to how the US intelligence is (I have no doubts about it) profiling muslims and middle eastern immigrants- not because it has anything against those groups per se, but because it has reasons to believe terrorists might hide in their ranks.
All possibly true I guess, or at least I'm not an expert and won't debate you on this. Still, the discussion above was more about the potential uses of invented tech, and in that regard it doesn't matter if it's only rumored to be used wrong and the rumors have something like 10% chance of being true. The ethical dilemma is the same. It's there from the point that you can imagine it realistically happening.
> in that regard it doesn't matter if it's only rumored to be used wrong and the rumors have something like 10% chance of being true
I agree, but then it's telling how in an abstract argument about the potential misuse of technology seems natural to throw in an offhand accusation against a specific country. I am pretty worried by how quickly China has become the new boogeyman- everyone thinks it's perfectly reasonable to display anger towards a huge country that only a few years ago was seen, despite its obvious issues and shortcomings, as successful and dynamic.
And I remember how it started: when a mainstream, trusted news outlet reported about the existence of "spy chips" in hardware sold by Chinese companies to the US "according to extensive interviews with government and corporate sources". Which later turned out to be fake news. It gives pause for thought.
> China might be using AI not to "round up" Uighurs, but as an intelligence measure to prevent more terror attacks.
That is exactly what I claimed they were potentially using it for.
I acknowledge that I am very much biased against China as I live in a country within it's sphere of influence and have friends in HK.
But in any discussion of using AI for unethical purposes, China is the ur-example, as Nazi Germany is to facism: an authoritarian government with a history of tech surveillance, censorship and media control, and minority oppression, and the tech to back it up.
If they don't like that, maybe they should stop using technology to oppress their own citizens.
