China enhances its Internet regulations with AI, posing fresh limitations for its citizens. Chinese tech companies are compelled to embody “basic socialist values” in AI initiatives. The country’s surveillance regime continues with the implementation of 600,000 cameras for live tracking.
China, with its dense population, often takes extremely restrictive steps in various matters. In 2021, we discussed this under the heading of China’s interesting prohibitions. In the past, everything from the letter N to Astra Travel was banned in the country. We extensively discussed this in our news on China’s interesting bans. Now, prohibitions for artificial intelligence have come onto the agenda.
China and AI Rules
China’s internet regulator will censor the information used by artificial intelligence products and hold developers responsible for their outputs as the country fights for AI superiority. The China Cyber Space Administration states, as part of the regulations that the government will conclude this month, that organizations will have 10 days to register generative products after their launch.
In addition, Beijing must face the dilemma of innovating under Communist-style censorship that could hinder the usefulness of AI tools. In the first draft of the new regulations, it was stated that AI efforts should “embody basic socialist values” and promote national unity. However, time will tell whether companies see compliance as possible in light of friendlier regimes fighting with China for AI superiority. Hong Kong Professor Angela Zhang stated that companies need to filter out non-compliant data or risk facing heavy penalties.
Socialist AI
China’s new rules almost single-handedly hold developers accountable for the outputs produced by large language models. Recently, Chinese companies Baidu and Alibaba released productive tools that do not violate communist ideals. So, AI tools used in the region will need to be trained not to violate basic socialist values.
We have seen censorship in many areas in China, from Internet queries to using news from foreign agents as sources. Now, turning to artificial intelligence also means a new restriction for the Chinese. China, which has been running the social credit program for a long time, will monitor its citizens with 600,000 cameras that can be tracked instantly, according to recent news. Although all of this may seem like a quote from a movie, China’s excessive supervision policy has ceased to be surprising for those living in the region.
