China's PLA deploys AI tool 'DeepSeek' in military hospitals, non-combat functions

Beijing: China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has started using the recently released Chinese AI tool 'DeepSeek' for non-combat support functions, especially in military hospitals, to assist the doctors in devising treatment plans besides other civilian areas, media reports said.

DeepSeek’s open-source large language models (LLMs) are being used in PLA hospitals, People’s Armed Police (PAP), and national defence mobilisation organs, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.

Earlier this month, the general hospital of the PLA Central Theatre Command announced that it had authorised “embedded deployment” of DeepSeek’s R1-70B LLM, saying it could provide treatment plan suggestions to support doctors, according to the Post.

The hospital also emphasised patient privacy and data security, noting that all data was stored and processed on local servers.

Similar deployments have been seen in other PLA hospitals nationwide, including the elite PLA General Hospital in Beijing, also known as “301 Hospital”, where senior Chinese officials and military officers receive treatment and highly sensitive personal data is believed to be stored.

Earlier, the PLA, which is investing heavily in modernisation, cautioned its armed forces against banking heavily on artificial intelligence, saying that AI should be a tool to guide but not a replacement for human decision-making on the battlefield because it lacks self-awareness capability.

“As AI evolves, it must remain a tool guided by human judgment, ensuring accountability, creativity, and strategic adaptability remain at the forefront of military decision-making,” an article published in the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the official media of the Chinese military, said in January.

“AI must work in tandem with human decision-makers to optimise command effectiveness, enhancing rather than replacing human agency,” it said.

China is abuzz with DeepSeek's latest AI offering which has drawn global attention for its low-cost model. Further, DeepSeek’s R1 used a fraction of compute power as compared to established AI models like ChatGPT.

Also, DeepSeek overtook ChatGPT as the top-ranked free app on Apple’s Appstore, as the US tech industry - that has long justified injecting billions of dollars into AI investments — watched in sheer disbelief.

In the longer run analysts expect the AI models to find imminent application in battlefield intelligence surveillance and decision-making by the Chinese military.

Besides treatment plans in military hospitals, China is promoting AI integration across industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and urban development, and some Chinese government agencies are increasingly utilising DeepSeek models, including for anti-corruption efforts.

Some units of PAP (People’s Armed Police), a paramilitary police force under the Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the Chinese military, started the AI app for daily physical training and psychological counselling.

The political work department of the Hainan paramilitary force shared an example of soldiers using DeepSeek to address anxiety and create an exercise plan on its official media account.

Sam Bresnick, a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Centre for Security and Emerging Technology who focuses on military AI applications, said that the use of DeepSeek’s models in settings like hospitals and soldier training programmes offers the PLA a controlled environment for experimentation.

By initially deploying LLMs in non-combat scenarios, the PLA could try to address technical and operational challenges before expanding into more sensitive, high-risk areas, Bresnick told the Post.

The PLA had long highlighted the potential utility of AI for military decision-making, he said, adding that “the emergence of an advanced model like DeepSeek’s R1 might help in that area”.

The PLA has called for the incorporation of high-end technology, particularly AI, to strengthen its combat capabilities in previous years.

This would include boosting the effectiveness of drone swarm tactics, improving the efficiency and realism of pilot training, and battlefield decision-making support.

The Chinese state-run Guangming Daily said last month that DeepSeek “is playing an increasingly crucial role in the military intelligentization process, ushering in a new chapter in the evolution of military intelligentization”.

It said DeepSeek was capable of processing massive amounts of battlefield data in real-time, enabling precise situational awareness during combat.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military analyst, said DeepSeek’s applications in routine physical training and logistical support “demonstrate the PLA’s commitment to ‘staying up-to-date and fully utilising AI technology to enhance comprehensive combat capabilities’.” “It cannot be ruled out that DeepSeek has been used for other combat functions,” Fu said, adding that “the integration of AI into command systems has been underway for a considerable time”.