AI warship designer accelerating China’s naval lead

France 24 ^

[FarCenter]

China is set to supercharge its naval shipbuilding program with AI, accelerating production rates and potentially cementing its quantitative lead over the US.

This month, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that a research team from the China Ship Design and Research Center used AI operating on a small computer system to design a warship’s electrical systems in one day.

This task would reportedly take human designers 300 days using the most advanced computer tools, the source says. SCMP notes that the research team published their findings in the Chinese-language journal Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems last month.

According to Luo Wei, a senior engineer with the ship design center, the AI accomplished 400 tasks with 100% accuracy, noting that although the AI showed areas for improvement, it could accelerate China’s shipbuilding program, as reported by the source.

SCMP says that the AI works by consulting a database of Chinese ship designs from past decades and then comes up with a design that is checked against the database, with this approach drastically reducing computing resources and eliminating errors.

However, the source also says that while the AI made mistakes in the design process, it does not work autonomously but rather functions with human guidance. SCMP also notes that the AI project received military funding, as the design process was the main obstacle to speeding up warship production rather than shipyard capacity.

The technology can further cement China’s shipbuilding lead over the US. Asia Times reported last month that the US could not match China’s shipbuilding output, as China has 13 naval shipyards, each with more capacity than all seven US naval shipyards combined.

China’s massive shipbuilding capacity has contributed to having the world’s largest navy at 340 ships, compared to the US at 280 as of 2022.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

AI ... it’s what’s for dinner. Incessant warfare on this planet caused the breakout of the intellectual power of technology and scientific method from Church control. That same motivation is delivering AI to humanity. Survival of the smartest is going to start a new plot line for our species.

[Svartalfiar]

China’s massive shipbuilding capacity has contributed to having the world’s largest navy at 340 ships, compared to the US at 280 as of 2022.

My kids have a 30+ ship navy in the bathtub, but it's mostly rubber ducks. Does that count?

These US still has a much larger navy if you compare by tonnage. China has no functional carriers, and even once they get a couple running, they'll have no experience in actual operations. Plus, the biggest thing missing is carrier-launched awacs. They might be putting one on the carriers soon, but it's nothing compared to US capabilities.

[minnesota_bound]

It probably has the blue wire connected where the red wire should be.