A man from Gansu in China was arrested by Chinese police for using ChatGPT to create fake news and spreading it on multiple accounts. This is against the Administrative Provisions on Deep Synthesis for Internet Information Service. In accordance with regulations, videos and photos made by AI must be clearly labelled as such. This is to prevent public confusion.
The man, Hong, who was detained, used elements of trending social media stories in China from the past years as input for ChatGPT in order to produce fake stories, and he uploaded these on various accounts. The story was posted by more than 20 accounts on Baidu's Baijiahao blog platform, and had already reached over 15000 people before the police was alarmed.
No ChatGPT in China
Even though ChatGPT is not available in China, some users illegally use softwares to access it. Subsequently, the Chinese government will still hold you responsible for creating the fake news as you gave it that input. It thus sees the person who gave ChatGPT the input as the creator, instead of seeing ChatGPT as the creator. This brings us to the realm of the social corporate credit system, which also sees on individuals behaviour.
ChatGPT and the social corporate credit system
Would use of AI fall under the ever-larger social credit system that either rewards or punishes both individuals and companies for not being compliant with China's laws and regulations?
The answer is yes. Use of ChatGPT as such falls now also under this domain, in case the output created is not in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations. As such, companies or individuals would as a result potentially not be able to do business anymore in China, or could even face criminal charges, in case the output of AI is not in accordance with Chinese laws or regulations.
Future of AI-output in China
Based upon the above, it is safe to say that China is serious about regulating AI, and making sure that people are not being fed fake stories that come from unwanted civilians, as this would create trouble and confusion. Be warned, using AI for creation can put you at risk in China if the output is not compliant with Chinese law and regulations.
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