China is Building an AI powered 3D-printed dam on Tibetan plateau

Will A.I. be used in Construction mega projects?

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Just a short note on something I found interesting over the weekend.

Personal Note

My Mom is in the hospital with terminal cancer, so my cadence of articles might be significantly lower during this period.

China’s robot-built 3D-printed dam ready in 2 years: scientists

Artificial intelligence appears to be at the heart of the project on the Tibetan Plateau that will be built slice by slice, with no human workers. When completed the Yangqu hydropower plant will deliver nearly 5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year to Henan province.

China is already likely the most advanced civilization at building huge scale large infrastructure projects and has a lot of experience building Dams. But to do with with A.I. powered 3D-printing is a bit of an unusual story.

China has been focused on building large hydroelectric power plants with the Three Gorges Dam being the biggest which reportedly provides electricity to east, central and south China's Guangdong province. 

The reports on this story are a bit sketchy, but the gist of it is that the 180 metre high Yangqu hydropower plant will be built “slice by slice” – all controlled by artificial intelligence, the report claimed.

I first read this story on the South China Morning Post here. Sometimes with Chinese News it’s difficult to believe the source and credibility at times. It’s not clear to me exactly how China is using artificial intelligence to effectively turn a dam project on the Tibetan Plateau into the world’s largest 3D printer, according to scientists involved in the project.

China claims that the bulldozers, trucks, digging machines, pavers and rollers used in the construction of this dam will run on the technology of artificial intelligence. In such a situation, with the help of machines, the construction of the dam will be done in layer by layer.

New Dam will generate 5 billion kilowatts of electricity

Engineers involved in building the dam for the Yangku Hydropower Plant said it would have a height of 180 meters (590 ft).

This dam will be constructed over the Yellow River. The power generation capacity of the Yangku Hydropower Plant is said to be 5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh). Not only this, with the help of this dam, 50 million people of Henan province and surrounding areas will be provided electricity. The great thing is that Henan province is the cradle of Chinese civilization, so the construction work of this project is being overseen directly from the office of President Xi Jinping.

Is China the Leader in Mega Infrastructure Projects?

The grand structure will reportedly be built by artificial intelligence using 3D printing techniques. The Yangkou hydropower plant is scheduled to be completed in the next two years. China also has crazy ambitions to build a gigantic space ship one day. China’s capability on mega infrastructure projects is most intriguing as one of the most intentional Nations interested in smart city infrastructure and urban planning from the standpoint of A.I. integrated societies. China’s interest in manifesting 4th industrial era design is immense.

China is very prone to flooding and A.I. here could be pretty important. Scientists have been studying the efficiency of dams through Artificial intelligence especially for monitoring purposes in order to locate risky dams including keeping a check on embankments and predicting the effect of heavy rainfall on the dam.

Artificial intelligence techniques also help to track dam maintenance and repairs remotely with data which can ensure mapping of electricity generation over a period of time.

China is Using A.I. to Further its Hydro-Power Goals

China depends greatly on hydroelectricity which is its second-biggest source of energy after coal with authorities hard pressed to meet carbon neutral goals by 2060. 

The dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo is part of China’s bid to achieve carbon neutrality, but it will be built on Tibet’s sacred river. The Yarlung Tsangpo River, more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Lhasa. Tibetans believe the river represents the body of the goddess Dorje Pagmo, one of the highest incarnations in Tibetan culture.

In the foothills of the Himalayas, where the ancient Yarlung civilization established the first Tibetan Empire, China has plans to build the world’s biggest hydroelectric dam. That they are using 3D-printing and A.I. to automate the work seems highly curious. It’s certainly a future meets past episode in China’s fondness for building mega structure Dams of scale.

Beijing has redoubled its efforts on its hydropower projects in Tibet, even though the dams have drawn criticism from Tibetan rights groups and environmentalists. As you might know, what China did to Tibet is not so unlike what Ukraine is suffering today. The peaceful buddhist country of Tibet was invaded by Communists China in 1949. Since that time, over 1.2 million out of 6 Tibetans have been killed, over 6000 monasteries have been destroyed, and thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned.

A Clash of the New and the Old

When I used to live in India I would often hear about the plight of Tibetans but it never seemed like America or Europe cared about what was going on. Interesting how involved Europe and America are in the Ukraine today. It seems a bit like a double standard to me.

What happens when powerful empires rise at the expense of spiritual traditions?

“Respect for nature is so deep-rooted,” said Dolmey, who was brought up among Tibetan exiles in India and now teaches Tibetan language and culture in Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city.

“When we would swim in the rivers, we were told to never use it as a bathroom, because there are river gods in the water.”

The Yarlung Tsangpo is of particular significance, as it represents the body of the goddess Dorje Phagmo, one of the highest incarnations in Tibetan culture.

I’m not sure artificial intelligence cares in particular about the River’s sacred meaning to the Tibetan culture, it’s just a tool in this instance to construct a better Dam for China’s hydro-power ambitions. But I think it’s pretty symbolic.

I try to cover A.I. stories that relate to also the clash of the old and the new, and I was struck by this news. Will A.I. be used to empower people or to infringe upon our human rights? China’s neo-surveillance capitalism is at the crossroads of this question, and many analysts already believe they know the answer.

“We had absolutely no dams before Chinese occupation, not because we were not able to harness it, but because we had immense respect for the nature of the rivers.” It seems clear China will change a lot of things as it grows from regional power to global super-power on the back of A.I.

What do you think?

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Personal Note

My Mom is in the hospital with terminal cancer, so my cadence of articles might be significantly lower during this period.