AI 'almost' started a war between US, China

A Chinese vessel in West Asia was nearly intercepted by the US military after a "false" intelligence report claimed that it was carrying components linked to a nuclear weapons programme.The US military allegedly moved swiftly to intercept the vessel, with armed personnel prepared to board and aircraft officials ready in the air, reported CNN. However, before acting on the planned operation, US officials closely examined the intelligence report only to discover that it was generated using artificial intelligence.The report had been prepared by an analyst linked to a US Special Operations Command Pacific and the chatbot used in the AI system had incorrectly identified the material being carried by the Chinese vessel..‘US will FOREVER’ have access to Greenland, says Trump as he announces deal with Denmark, island.Describing the intelligence report as 'entirely false', a source told CNN that it 'almost started a war'.The chatbot had allegedly combined open-source data with classified intelligence signals which were available within the government systems.AI was once again used by the analyst to turn the results into a standard intelligence report which was later distributed to US military officials.AI push in US militaryUS officials have asserted that Washington cannot afford to fall behind in military AI capabilities, as it prepares for the possibility of a future conflict with China.The technology is increasingly seen as a way to process large quantities of information and accelerate battlefield decisions, including determining which targets to strike and where military assets should be deployed.A word of cautionThe incident has added to broader concerns within the US about the speed at which AI is being integrated into sensitive operations.Officials have warned that AI could pressure analysts to produce intelligence quickly but with more risks of errors.The adoption of AI by the US military is distributed among different parts of the government, using different systems and under different orders and safety standards.Officials have said that there is no single standard governing as to how the AI-generated information must be verified and disseminated.