The Daily Telegraph, July 2, Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP
The world leader in artificial intelligence, China, already uses the technology in a range of systems, including the surveillance of minority groups such as Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and Tibetans. Here, data from security cameras, mobile signal trackers, and people’s spending habits are passed through sophisticated AI software to determine their risk profiles. If they are caught in the dragnet, the consequences can be severe. But it is when combined with genomic surveillance that AI’s potential becomes truly dystopian.
Human Rights Watch has said that, within key parts of China, the authorities forcibly collect DNA samples from every male and employ AI to analyse them. This gives authorities access to an enormous and growing repository of information with wide-ranging applications.
Under the Made in China 2025 strategy, genomics, like AI, is classified as a priority industry for global domination by the Chinese Communist Party. When considered alongside a domestic law that compels all Chinese firms to assist and cooperate with state intelligence work, it should be of great concern that the world’s largest genomics firm is the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI).
BGI is the largest company you have probably never heard of, and potentially the most dangerous. It is collaborating on genetic research programmes designed to enhance soldiers’ performances at high altitude, while also operating as the country’s national gene bank and key government laboratory. With investigations into the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak exposing the extent of China’s biological weapons programme, any state-affiliated genomics company with links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) must face greater scrutiny.
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