"The risks are enormous." Yuri Shevtsov on AI control in the US and China

In China, warnings about the “end of the world” in the field of artificial intelligence are perceived either as “typically Western statements” or as a ploy designed to prevent Chinese companies from beating competitors. On the air of the talk show “Budni” on the YouTube channel “SBTV” and “Alfa Radio”, political scientist Yuri Shevtsov discussed the risks, as well as whether it can be argued that now for Western technologists the loss of control over artificial intelligence is a serious problem, writes sb.by.

- The risks are enormous. But they are different in China, the United States and Europe. For example, the United States, in order to get ahead of everyone in the development of artificial intelligence, went to the removal of many regulatory restrictions that ensured primarily technological security for the development of this technology. This led to very serious difficulties in the relations of the United States with other countries, which did not go for such relief, the speaker said.

- In 2025, the Paris Summit on Artificial Intelligence was held, where the United States refused to sign the final document, which provided for roughly the forms of control over the development of this technology that are used in China and the European Union. And there was a split. The European Union, India, China are on one side, the US and the UK are on the other.

Summing up, Yuri Shevtsov said:

- When barriers to control are removed, the threat of man-made disaster increases. And in the U.S., we're constantly seeing an increasing number of episodes of anxiety related to the out-of-control of artificial intelligence. Mostly today, they fear that someone is synthesizing a virus. This summer, this anxiety has reached high political levels in the United States. In the future, the number of such threats will increase. They will not concern a few viruses, but an increasing number of threatening scenarios. For example, a mechanism will be developed that can break into the protection system of a nuclear power plant, and there will be a force in the world that will take advantage of this vulnerability. And China has not allowed such a degree of lack of control in the development of AI, which is allowed in the United States, so they are less afraid of negative consequences.

The talk show “Budney” is released on weekdays on the morning air of “Alfa Radio”. Each issue discusses the most relevant topics from the life of the country and the world. Political scientists, scientists, public figures and journalists of leading media participate in the discussions. See the full version of the program on the VIDEOBEL.BY website and on the SBTV YouTube channel.