China’s new law to control artificial intelligence

China is actively taking steps to increase transparency in information generated by artificial intelligence and published on the Internet. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s national internet regulatory body, recently released a draft law that includes guidelines for labeling AI-generated content.

The law, titled “Artificial Intelligence-Generated Composite Content Labeling Actions,” addresses providers of AI-generated text, images, audio, and video, and aims to increase transparency. This draft was inspired by legislation such as the Cyber ​​Security Act and the AI ​​Service Management Regulations.

The purpose of this law is to introduce a single standard for monitoring content related to artificial intelligence and reduce the amount of false information and deepfakes (deep fake content) on the Internet. According to this law, labels are divided into the following two categories:

Specific tags:

Visible marks such as warnings or watermarks should be placed on AI-generated text, images, audio, and video. For example, videos produced with artificial intelligence should have clear signs in their opening frame and warnings should be displayed in appropriate places in the text.

hidden tags:

Hidden data such as metadata or watermarks should be embedded in AI-generated files. These tokens include information such as content source, AI service provider, and unique identifier. These tags are not immediately visible, but can be recognized by platforms and regulatory bodies to verify content authenticity.

The implementation of these regulations is associated with obstacles. Among the most important obstacles for the implementation of such laws is the issue of financial costs related to its implementation. Currently, platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Weibo, Douyin and Kuaishou, which are active in China, have implemented rules related to content generated by artificial intelligence, but its implementation It will be difficult for smaller companies. Also, this action is an attempt to ensure national and public security in China.

Beijing has always been wary of emerging technologies and has been a step ahead of countries like the US or the EU in regulating them. Zhuang Rongwen, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), is an influential person not only in China but also in the West. He was recently named as one of the most influential people in the Times 100 list. He has always tried to realize the values ​​of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has actively emphasized the country’s power in the growing artificial intelligence (GenAI) competition with the West.

When ChatGPT launched in 2022, China introduced a law the following year to prevent the rapid and uncontrolled growth of artificial intelligence. According to this law, companies must first obtain government approval for public use of models.

Last year, Senator Mark Warner gave an interview to Politico and said: “China is far ahead in the field of artificial intelligence self-regulation within its own country,” and added: “China is the leader in artificial intelligence laws.” and has left other countries behind.

It was earlier this year that India’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MeiTy) issued guidelines on labeling of AI-related content online. This guide was published after problems with the Gemini AI and was later revised.

In a previous version of the guide, companies were told they would have to get government approval before launching new AI models. This was met with a lot of criticism, as many believed that the move could limit innovation and slow down the process of developing new technologies.