In 2022, Koichiro Takagi wrote, “New Tech, New Concepts: China’s Plans for AI and Cognitive Warfare,” where he explored the role of AI in China’s cognitive operations. Four years later, with AI becoming increasingly capable and sophisticated, we asked Koichiro to revisit his arguments.Image: geralt, pixabay licenseIn your 2022 article, you explain how China is increasingly utilizing AI to plan for battle in the cognitive domain. Four years later, where does China stand with developing the thought-manipulating capabilities it seeks?China’s pursuit of cognitive operations is often misunderstood as an effort at dramatic “mind control.” In reality, the central issue is whether artificial intelligence has been meaningfully institutionalized within Chinese doctrine and operational planning to compress or seize decision-making — both within China and among its adversaries.Since 2022, Chinese leadership has repeatedly emphasized “intelligentized warfare,” placing AI at the center of military modernization. U.S. and Taiwanese official assessments confirm that the PLA continues to experiment with AI-enabled capabilities, including information processing, decision support, unmanned systems, and cognitive domain operations. Taiwan’s National Security Bureau reports a sharp increase in Chinese disinformation, bot activity, and influence operations in 2025, aimed at weakening social cohesion and resistance.Evidence suggests, however, that China’s most ambitious cognitive operation concepts — particularly elite intimidation and direct manipulation of senior decision-makers — remain largely theoretical. My analysis of PLA Daily military-theory essays from 2023–2024 shows that while AI discussion is widespread, practical applications such as situational awareness, decision support, and unmanned weapons dominate. Cognitive domain operations are discussed, but mainly in terms of mass persuasion rather than decisive psychological collapse.China has advanced significantly, but primarily toward practical, integrative uses of AI rather than decisive mind-manipulation.Has the concept of “cognitive operations” evolved in Chinese military and intelligence thought since 2022? How does China’s approach differ from American thinking today?Chinese thinking on
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