China Artificial Intelligence
Ying Dong | NoorPhoto | Good pictures
Chinese regulators on Thursday finalized first-of-its-kind rules to develop artificial intelligence as the country looks to step up oversight of the fast-growing technology.
China’s powerful Cyberspace Administration (CAC) said it had worked with several regulators to come up with the new regulation, which will take effect on August 15.
Generative AI is a rapidly growing area of technology in which artificial intelligence services can generate content such as text or images. ChatGPT, developed by US company OpenAI, is the most well-known example and allows users to ask a chatbot and get answers to questions.
These services are trained on vast amounts of data. However, ChatGPT’s success has prompted a wave of competing services to pop up, raising concerns among global regulators about the risks surrounding the technology.
Chinese tech giants have jumped on the bandwagon, announcing plans and launching their own AI services.
But China, which tightly controls the domestic Internet through censorship and regulation, is keeping a close eye on AI development. Chinese regulators are concerned about the potential for these services to generate content that opposes Beijing’s views or ideology.
That’s why Chinese tech companies are focusing on launching their services like ChatGPT. Instead of comprehensive services widely available to the public, Chinese companies focus their technology on enterprise and narrow applications.
For example, Alibaba this month launched an artificial intelligence tool that can create images from stimuli called Dongyi Wanxiang, but it’s only available to enterprise customers for beta testing.
However, CAC’s rules provide a framework for tech giants to work with when it comes to technology.
What are the rules for China’s developing AI?
For example, the rules apply only to generative AI services that are available to the general public rather than those developed at research institutions.
The CAC said generative AI services must be licensed to operate.
If a generating AI service provider detects “illegal” content, it must take steps to stop generating that content, improve the algorithm, and then report the information to the relevant authority.
Providers of these services must conduct security assessments of their products and ensure that user information is secure.
The CAC said AI services developed in China must also adhere to the “core values of socialism”.
However, regulators are trying to strike a balance between keeping China at the forefront of artificial intelligence while closely monitoring its development.
CAC’s provisions, the regulation aims to promote innovative applications of AI and develop related infrastructure such as semiconductors.
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