--- title: "China Says It’s Developing an AI to Detect Party Loyalty" description: "China is reportedly developing a biometric-enhanced AI device that can test how loyal one is to the ruling party — and yes, we should be afraid." date: "2022-07-06" modified: "2022-07-06" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/china-ai-loyalty" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "algorithms" - "military tech" - "military technology" - "neural networks" - "political ai" --- # China Says It’s Developing an AI to Detect Party Loyalty ![China is reportedly developing a biometric-enhanced AI device that can test how loyal one is to the ruling party — and yes, we should be afraid.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* The latest dystopian nightmare AI just dropped — and it's raising a lot of questions that are absolutely NOT answered by its social media announcement. As [*The Times of* London reports](), China's Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center announced the development of a program featuring "artificial intelligence empowering party-building" last week in a post on Weibo, the country's second-largest social media platform. In the lead-up to the Chinese Communist Party's July 1 anniversary, the Heifei Center said in the since-deleted post's text, which was [transcribed and translated by *Radio Free Asia*](), that its new program would assuage the "problem" of "guaranteeing the quality of party-member activities." Translation: this artificial intelligence, though many details remain hazy, can purportedly determine party member loyalty. "This equipment is a kind of smart ideology, using AI technology to extract and integrate facial expressions, EEG readings and skin conductivity," *RFA*'s translation of the initial Weibo post reads, "making it possible to ascertain the levels of concentration, recognition and mastery of ideological and political education so as to better understand its effectiveness." According to the *Times*, the equipment was tested by reading brain waves and analyzing facial scans while subjects read articles about the CCP, which then translated to a loyalty "score." And yeah, that's quite sketchy-sounding. If this story sets off alarm bells, it does so for good reason — the concept of a mind-reading political AI device that tests one's loyalty to party and country sounds more like something out of "1984" than 2022. Of course, China doesn't have a monopoly on ominous AI. From the [many problems with police use of facial recognition]() software to a new algorithm that can reportedly "predict" future crimes [developed by the University of Chicago]() to the [often-discriminatory AIs]() used to determine whether or not someone is eligible for a loan, AI is already creeping into many people's lives in invasive and totalitarian ways. And yes, the development of an AI that uses biometrics to supposedly judge how loyal someone is to a party or nation does indeed seem like a great tool for political repression — and there's no reason to believe, in spite of our [Defense Department's pinky-swear promise not to use AI unethically](), that if and when the Chinese perfect this tech, we Americans won't be buying it for ourselves and our allies. **READ MORE:** [Chinese AI ‘can check loyalty of party members’]() \[*The Times of London*\] **More on government AI:** *[Alarming Footage Shows Robot Battle Tank Blowing Up Cars]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()