Publications

CSET produces evidence-driven analysis in a variety of forms, from informative graphics and translations to expert testimony and published reports. Our key areas of inquiry are the foundations of artificial intelligence — such as talent, data and computational power — as well as how AI can be used in cybersecurity and other national security settings. We also do research on the policy tools that can be used to shape AI’s development and use, and on biotechnology.

Analysis

AI Safety and Automation Bias

Lauren Kahn, Emelia Probasco, and Ronnie Kinoshita
| November 2024

Automation bias is a critical issue for artificial intelligence deployment. It can cause otherwise knowledgeable users to make crucial and even obvious errors. Organizational, technical, and educational leaders can mitigate these biases through training, design, and processes. This paper explores automation bias and ways to mitigate it through three case studies: Tesla’s autopilot incidents, aviation incidents at Boeing and Airbus, and Army and Navy air defense incidents.

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Read our translation of a Chinese industrial policy directive that aims to speed up the process of getting manufacturing prototypes into commercial production.

Read our translation of China's 2022 "Document 79" on state-run enterprise reform. U.S. media have reported that China strictly limited the dissemination of this document, which purportedly requires state firms to purge U.S. software. The publicly available version translated here has no such clause.

Read our translation of Chinese technical documentation for generative AI that establishes very specific oversight processes that Chinese AI companies must adopt in regard to their model training data, model-generated content, and more.

Read our translation of the “About Us” page of the website of the International Science and Technology Information Center (ITIC), a government-run open-source S&T intelligence provider in Shenzhen, a tech hub in southern China.

Analysis

Bibliometric Analysis of China’s Non-Therapeutic Brain-Computer Interface Research

William Hannas, Huey-Meei Chang, Rishika Chauhan, Daniel Chou, John O’Callaghan, Max Riesenhuber, Vikram Venkatram, and Jennifer Wang
| March 2024

China’s brain-computer interface research has two dimensions. Besides its usual applications in neuropathology, China is extending the benefits of BCI to the general population, aiming at enhanced cognition and a “merger” of natural and artificial intelligence. This report, authored in collaboration with researchers from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London uses bibliometric analysis and expert assessment of technical documents to evaluate China’s BCI, and conclude that the research is on track to achieve its targets.

Analysis

An Argument for Hybrid AI Incident Reporting

Ren Bin Lee Dixon and Heather Frase
| March 2024

Artificial Intelligence incidents have been occurring with the rapid advancement of AI capabilities over the past decade. However, there is not yet a concerted policy effort in the United States to monitor, document, and aggregate AI incident data to enhance the understanding of AI-related harm and inform safety policies. This report proposes a federated approach consisting of hybrid incident reporting frameworks to standardize reporting practices and prevent missing data.

Read our translation of guidelines, issued by a Chinese Communist Party commission, that offer non-binding principles for ethical conduct in brain-computer interface research.

Annual Report

CSET at Five

Center for Security and Emerging Technology
| March 2024

In honor of CSET’s fifth birthday, this annual report is a look at CSET’s successes in 2023 and over the course of the past five years. It explores CSET’s different lines of research and cross-cutting projects, and spotlights some of its most impactful research products.

Translation

Chinese Academy of Sciences 2023 Budget

February 27, 2024

Read our translation of the 2023 budget for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-run complex of research institutes and think tanks.

Analysis

Which Ties Will Bind?

Sam Bresnick, Ngor Luong, and Kathleen Curlee
| February 2024

U.S. technology companies have become important actors in modern conflicts, and several of them have meaningfully contributed to Ukraine’s defense. But many of these companies are deeply entangled with China, potentially complicating their decision-making in a potential Taiwan contingency.