Although the U.S. leads in developing generative artificial intelligence technology, China is in the forefront of enacting regulations – for better and for worse.
By Rebecca Arcesati and Wendy Chang
April 28, 2023
In April, China’s internet regulator published draft
provisions for governing “generative artificial intelligence” (AI) (in
Chinese, 生成式人工智能). The regulations
aim to ensure “healthy development and standardized application” of AI services
that can create text, videos, voice, and images.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT
is just one of many such technologies swiftly emerging around the globe.
Although the United States leads in this area, the Chinese government has
leapfrogged the U.S. in creating a regulatory framework. China’s answer to
ChatGPT – Baidu’s ERNIE Bot – is barely out of the gate with an underwhelming
debut. But a deeper look at the development and commercialization of these
technologies in China reveals that the government is actively trying to stay
ahead of this growing trend.
This is in large part prompted by a desire on the part
of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to maintain social and political stability
by keeping its internet censorship mechanisms intact. However, the ability to
roll out broad restrictions unchallenged also allows Beijing to move fast.
Information controls aside, China’s forward-thinking approach to regulating the
input and output of large language models (LLMs) may still lend lawmakers
elsewhere – including in Europe – interesting angles to consider when
developing their own regulatory framework.
Widespread Adoption for Commercial Use
Generative AI has seen explosive growth in the last
few years, showing its transformative potential for economies and societies but
also raising massive governance
challenges. ChatGPT and its peers have demonstrated a stunning ability to
comprehend and compose text, which will only improve with time. Image
generators like Midjourney can generate original artwork based on text prompts.
Advances in virtual and augmented reality technology to create immersive
simulations are transforming fields from gaming to healthcare. Alongside these
breakthroughs, generative AI already permeates social media in the form of
photo- and video-enhancing filters. With these technologies have come a range
of privacy, security, ethical, and socioeconomic concerns.
In China, ChatGPT was
promptly banned by government censors, and companies have been scrambling
to develop domestic alternatives. But generative AI has already seen widespread
adoption for commercial use. A report
by Tsinghua University’s Institute for AI cites some of these, including TV
programs that showcase the ability of voice generation and poem-writing
programs. In one case, generative AI was used to save previously shot film
footage, replacing the faces of actors who had run afoul of the state’s moral
guidelines. China’s official state news agency Xinhua regularly uses a
simulated “AI anchor” in a portion of its online news segments. In a white
paper released in 2020, Tencent stressed the beneficial potential of
AI-generated content in areas from e-commerce to healthcare.
Although
the U.S. leads in developing generative artificial intelligence technology,
China is in the forefront of enacting regulations – for better and for worse.
By Rebecca Arcesati and Wendy Chang
April 28, 2023
In April, China’s internet regulator published draft
provisions for governing “generative artificial intelligence” (AI) (in
Chinese, 生成式人工智能). The regulations
aim to ensure “healthy development and standardized application” of AI services
that can create text, videos, voice, and images.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT
is just one of many such technologies swiftly emerging around the globe.
Although the United States leads in this area, the Chinese government has
leapfrogged the U.S. in creating a regulatory framework. China’s answer to
ChatGPT – Baidu’s ERNIE Bot – is barely out of the gate with an underwhelming
debut. But a deeper look at the development and commercialization of these
technologies in China reveals that the government is actively trying to stay
ahead of this growing trend.
This is in large part prompted by a desire on the part
of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to maintain social and political stability
by keeping its internet censorship mechanisms intact. However, the ability to
roll out broad restrictions unchallenged also allows Beijing to move fast.
Information controls aside, China’s forward-thinking approach to regulating the
input and output of large language models (LLMs) may still lend lawmakers
elsewhere – including in Europe – interesting angles to consider when
developing their own regulatory framework.
Widespread Adoption for Commercial Use
Generative AI has seen explosive growth in the last
few years, showing its transformative potential for economies and societies but
also raising massive governance
challenges. ChatGPT and its peers have demonstrated a stunning ability to
comprehend and compose text, which will only improve with time. Image
generators like Midjourney can generate original artwork based on text prompts.
Advances in virtual and augmented reality technology to create immersive
simulations are transforming fields from gaming to healthcare. Alongside these
breakthroughs, generative AI already permeates social media in the form of
photo- and video-enhancing filters. With these technologies have come a range
of privacy, security, ethical, and socioeconomic concerns.
In China, ChatGPT was
promptly banned by government censors, and companies have been scrambling
to develop domestic alternatives. But generative AI has already seen widespread
adoption for commercial use. A report
by Tsinghua University’s Institute for AI cites some of these, including TV
programs that showcase the ability of voice generation and poem-writing
programs. In one case, generative AI was used to save previously shot film
footage, replacing the faces of actors who had run afoul of the state’s moral
guidelines. China’s official state news agency Xinhua regularly uses a
simulated “AI anchor” in a portion of its online news segments. In a white
paper released in 2020, Tencent stressed the beneficial potential of
AI-generated content in areas from e-commerce to healthcare.
With widespread adoption soon came controversy. In
2019, a mobile app called ZAO that allows users to swap their faces into short
movie clips became wildly popular overnight. It was ordered
off the shelves almost as quickly when regulators found it to violate user
privacy and data rights.
Generative AI, especially involving machine
learning-altered videos known as deepfakes, enables practices of a much more
nefarious nature. In 2021, Chinese authorities found
that criminals had created AI-generated facial videos from scraped internet
photos to illegally sign up for online payment accounts. China is not alone in
facing such threats: In 2022, the mayors of several European cities were spoofed
in video calls by someone using altered video footage to impersonate the mayor
of Kyiv.
Regulators Everywhere Struggle To Stay Ahead of Tech
While the stories of generative AI misuse are similar
around the world, governments’ reactions have differed. ChatGPT caught the
drafters of the European Union’s AI Act off guard, showing that lawmakers are
struggling with general-purpose AI systems that simultaneously enable
innocuous and highly harmful applications.
Beijing, meanwhile, took early steps. In response to
the ZAO incident, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered
online information service providers to review and clearly label any
AI-generated content. The rules also outlawed the use of generative AI to
produce and spread fake news. Building on these earlier provisions, in January
this year, China began enforcing legislation
regulating the use of “deep synthesis” (深度合成), a term used earlier for generative AI.
China’s governance efforts more broadly direct
attention toward the wider societal impacts of generative models. In addition
to labeling requirements, the deep synthesis regulations already included other
provisions such as requiring service providers to dispel rumors and false
information, submit their algorithms for review via the CAC-run
filing system, and ensure that the data used to train their AI models has
been lawfully obtained. The April draft rules go even further, requiring all
new products to undergo a security assessment with the CAC before launching.
In addition to crafting regulation, the government has
also backed startups and projects specializing in deepfake detection, like
Tsinghua University’s spinoff RealAI
(the EU is backing
similar efforts). Mindful of the security risks associated with the spread
of AI-generated content, the top think tank of the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology published China’s first-ever industry
standard for the evaluation of generative AI products in March.
Beijing’s approach reflects its forward-thinking
stance toward AI’s penetration into society, but also an ability to move
quickly on regulation unthinkable in countries governed by rule of law. Chinese
authorities are
likely to embrace the deployment of large language models in useful sectors
like autonomous driving or healthcare, but are also concerned about the
technology’s potential to mobilize public opinion, thus endangering state
security. Underpinning China’s regulatory efforts is also a desire to maintain
social and political control. For example, the draft rules stress that
AI-generated content must “reflect core socialist values and … not contain
content that subverts state power.”
CCP’s Obsession With Information Control Could Bring
Tighter Rules
It remains to be seen how much longer Chinese AI will
thrive, as the CCP is obsessed
with information control. When it comes to the internet and digital
technologies, China’s success has often been attributed to regulators’ initial
tolerance of experimentation. With LLMs, Beijing might just need to live with
the risk that chatbots return politically sensitive information to users.
Democracies may be slower at enforcing regulation, but they could ultimately
create a more enabling environment for the transformative
potential of AI.
Nevertheless, lawmakers in other countries should
reflect on China’s regulatory efforts beyond the overbroad authority the CCP
gives itself to curtail free expression. The draft regulation places
significant responsibility on providers of generative AI services, including the
labeling of generated content and the protection of personal data. In gathering
data for training large AI models, providers must guarantee accuracy, avoid
bias, and respect intellectual property rights. They are also responsible for
the output of their models – they cannot produce content that discriminates
based on users’ race, gender, religion, or other characteristics.
While the feasibility of enforcement is up in the air,
some of these requirements could provide food for thought as policymakers consider
how this powerful new technology should be regulated in liberal democratic
societies.
With widespread adoption soon came controversy. In
2019, a mobile app called ZAO that allows users to swap their faces into short
movie clips became wildly popular overnight. It was ordered
off the shelves almost as quickly when regulators found it to violate user
privacy and data rights.
Generative AI, especially involving machine
learning-altered videos known as deepfakes, enables practices of a much more
nefarious nature. In 2021, Chinese authorities found
that criminals had created AI-generated facial videos from scraped internet
photos to illegally sign up for online payment accounts. China is not alone in
facing such threats: In 2022, the mayors of several European cities were spoofed
in video calls by someone using altered video footage to impersonate the mayor
of Kyiv.
Regulators Everywhere Struggle To Stay Ahead of Tech
While the stories of generative AI misuse are similar
around the world, governments’ reactions have differed. ChatGPT caught the
drafters of the European Union’s AI Act off guard, showing that lawmakers are
struggling with general-purpose AI systems that simultaneously enable
innocuous and highly harmful applications.
Beijing, meanwhile, took early steps. In response to
the ZAO incident, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered
online information service providers to review and clearly label any
AI-generated content. The rules also outlawed the use of generative AI to
produce and spread fake news. Building on these earlier provisions, in January
this year, China began enforcing legislation
regulating the use of “deep synthesis” (深度合成), a term used earlier for generative AI.
China’s governance efforts more broadly direct
attention toward the wider societal impacts of generative models. In addition
to labeling requirements, the deep synthesis regulations already included other
provisions such as requiring service providers to dispel rumors and false
information, submit their algorithms for review via the CAC-run
filing system, and ensure that the data used to train their AI models has
been lawfully obtained. The April draft rules go even further, requiring all
new products to undergo a security assessment with the CAC before launching.
In addition to crafting regulation, the government has
also backed startups and projects specializing in deepfake detection, like
Tsinghua University’s spinoff RealAI
(the EU is backing
similar efforts). Mindful of the security risks associated with the spread
of AI-generated content, the top think tank of the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology published China’s first-ever industry
standard for the evaluation of generative AI products in March.
Beijing’s approach reflects its forward-thinking
stance toward AI’s penetration into society, but also an ability to move
quickly on regulation unthinkable in countries governed by rule of law. Chinese
authorities are
likely to embrace the deployment of large language models in useful sectors
like autonomous driving or healthcare, but are also concerned about the
technology’s potential to mobilize public opinion, thus endangering state
security. Underpinning China’s regulatory efforts is also a desire to maintain
social and political control. For example, the draft rules stress that
AI-generated content must “reflect core socialist values and … not contain
content that subverts state power.”
CCP’s Obsession With Information Control Could Bring
Tighter Rules
It remains to be seen how much longer Chinese AI will
thrive, as the CCP is obsessed
with information control. When it comes to the internet and digital
technologies, China’s success has often been attributed to regulators’ initial
tolerance of experimentation. With LLMs, Beijing might just need to live with
the risk that chatbots return politically sensitive information to users.
Democracies may be slower at enforcing regulation, but they could ultimately
create a more enabling environment for the transformative
potential of AI.
Nevertheless, lawmakers in other countries should
reflect on China’s regulatory efforts beyond the overbroad authority the CCP
gives itself to curtail free expression. The draft regulation places
significant responsibility on providers of generative AI services, including the
labeling of generated content and the protection of personal data. In gathering
data for training large AI models, providers must guarantee accuracy, avoid
bias, and respect intellectual property rights. They are also responsible for
the output of their models – they cannot produce content that discriminates
based on users’ race, gender, religion, or other characteristics.
While the feasibility of enforcement is up in the air,
some of these requirements could provide food for thought as policymakers consider
how this powerful new technology should be regulated in liberal democratic
societies.
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