Beijing must harness AI to boost China’s image on the ‘global stage’, party newspaper says

Central Party School newspaper urges propaganda officials to use AI technology such as ChatGPT to ‘guide international discourse’
Chinese media should strengthen scrutiny over content to compensate for shortcomings of ‘AI-generated content value defects’, article says

China’s Communist Party

Jane Caiin Beijing

Published: 8:03pm, 5 Jan 2024

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China should leverage AI-generated content for its international messaging and image building and enhance content scrutiny, according to commentary published on Friday by a newspaper of the Central Party School.

In the article in Study Times, bylined Li Chunyan, called for China’s propaganda officials to pay more attention to the output of applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and be more cautious about censoring the AI-generated content.

“The growing influence of AI-generated content in public opinion will bring profound changes to the landscape of international communication,” Li wrote.

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“Scientific understanding and better use of the technologies underpinning applications such as ChatGPT matters significantly to China’s comprehensive strength and discourse right on the global stage.”

China made AI a national priority in 2017, stating its ambition to become “the world’s premier artificial intelligence innovation centre” by 2030.

In 2019, at a meeting with Politburo members, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged political elites to “increase the sense of urgency and mission”, apply AI in news collection, production, distribution and feedback, “harness algorithms with [the party’s] mainstream values” and improve their ability to guide public opinion.

05:03

How does China’s AI stack up against ChatGPT?

ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, has captured worldwide attention since it was launched in 2022 for its detailed responses and articulate answers across many domains. Beijing acted quickly to catch up by pooling national resources and encouraging domestic technology firms to develop large language models (LLMs).

Large language models are deep-learning AI algorithms that can recognise, summarise, translate, predict and generate content using very large data sets.

Beijing also moved swiftly to regulate the generative artificial intelligence industry, introducing rules to require content moderation, security assessment, and algorithmic transparency, stressing that content should embody “socialist core values”.

China should be more vigilant towards “foreign media, which are good at leading international discourse by taking advantage of AI technology”, Li wrote in the article.

Chinese media should learn to grasp the new technologies, use them to precisely position its international audience, and improve its messaging and image building globally, Li added.

“Making better use of applications like ChatGPT can help us tell China stories well, recognise ideological issues and guide specific international discourse more effectively,” the author wrote.

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Li also said editors and reporters in Chinese media should be ready to strengthen scrutiny over their content “to compensate for the shortcomings of AI-generated content value defects”.

ChatGPT is not officially available in mainland China, but users can skirt internet restrictions to set up accounts via a VPN. Chinese companies have developed more than 200 LLMs, and the first batch of AI Chatbots for public roll-out were approved in September.

When asked politically related questions by the Post, several of the domestically made chatbots avoided such questions or sent them for a security review.