China’s Terrifying Artificial Intelligence
According to an article by Radio Free Asia, China’s Cyberspace Research Institute is testing an AI chatbot program to be used for political and ideological indoctrination.
The Cyberspace Research Institute is integrating Chinese Communist doctrine into their AI, but is specifically programming it to generate responses that represent the ideology of President Xi’s book “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.
The book, along with traditional Chinese Communist doctrine and other “Xi’isms,” are already mandatory reading in schools, government, and businesses.
The integration of such doctrine is a new (but not unexpected) development.
In 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued a memo that states tech companies would be required to ensure AI-generated content remains consistent with the ideology that defines Chinese Communism. The implementation of Xi’s ideology to such platforms suggests a reform in ideology and the institutions that sustain state thinking. It also goes a step further by working to establish a stronger cult of personality around Xi.
China’s ideology (which is called the Core Socialist Values) touts some values that might even resonate with the West, such as democracy, freedom, justice, and rule of law.
However, while the CAC is responsible for disseminating those values, they do so through a well-known and robust censorship and propaganda apparatus. China is one of the world’s least free nations.
For example, Freedom House ranks China as “Not Free” due to its poor political rights and restricted civil liberties. In summary, they state the following:
“China’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to tighten control over all aspects of life and governance, including the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious practice, universities, businesses, and civil society associations.”
And now, it looks like the CCP is going to tighten that grip further. The developments in AI have been exciting and scary, and the direction China is going is step one of our worst fears.
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