The artificial intelligence (AI) industry in
China is a rapidly developing multi-billion dollar industry. As of 2021, the
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
market is worth about
RMB
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
150 billion (US$23.196 billion), and that figure is projected to reach RMB 400 billion (US$61.855 billion) by 2025. The roots of China's AI development started in the late 1970s following
economic reform
Microeconomic reform (or often just economic reform) comprises policies directed to achieve improvements in economic efficiency, either by eliminating or reducing distortions in individual sectors of the economy or by reforming economy-wide polici ...
s emphasizing
science and technology as the country's primary productive force.
The early stages of China's AI development were slow and faced serious challenges due to a lack of resources and talent. When China started to develop its AI industry, it had an enormous gap compared to most
Western countries
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. . A majority of the research was led by scientists who had received
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
abroad.
Since 2006, China has steadily developed a national agenda for artificial intelligence development and emerged as one of the leading nations in artificial intelligence research and development.
During the late 2010s, China announced in its thirteenth
Five-Year Plan its aim to become a global AI leader by 2030 and to increase the worth of its AI industry to over 1 trillion RMB in the same year.
China broke down this goal into three stages, setting benchmarks for 2020, 2025, and 2030 respectively, as well as releasing a handful of policies, including 'Internet + AI' and 'New Generation AI Development Plan', to incentivize industry growth. Analysts estimated that China's AI development would contribute an annual growth rate of approximately 0.8% to 1.4% to China's economy.
China's central government has a list of "national AI teams" including fifteen China-based companies, including
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...
,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
,
Alibaba,
SenseTime, and
iFlytek
iFlytek (), styled as iFLYTEK, is a partially state-owned Chinese information technology company established in 1999. It creates voice recognition software and 10+ voice-based internet/mobile products covering education, communication, music, int ...
. Each company is supposed to lead the development of a designated specialized AI sector in China, such as
facial recognition,
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
/
hardware, and
voice intelligence. China's rapid AI development has significantly impacted Chinese society in many areas, including the socio-economic,
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, and political spheres.
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
,
transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
, accommodation and
food services
The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...
, and manufacturing are the top industries that would be the most impacted by further AI deployment.
At the same time, scholars have warned of potential negative impacts on China's
labor market and disproportionate benefits between
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
and
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
areas, coastal and inland regions, and among different income groups.
Strengthening the nation's military power is another major factor for countries, including China, to engage in global competition for AI leadership. The private sector, university laboratories, and the military are working collaboratively in many aspects as there are few current existing boundaries.
As China continues expanding its AI industry, there are
ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
and regulatory concerns yet to be addressed, such as data control and user privacy. In 2021, China published its first national law addressing AI-related ethical concerns, the
Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China
The Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China (; referred to as the Data Security Law or DSL) governs the creation, use, storage, transfer, and exploitation of data within China. The law is seen to be primarily targeted at technology co ...
. In October 2022, the United States federal government announced a series of export controls and trade restrictions intended to restrict China's access to advanced
computer chips
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
for AI applications.
History
Late 1970s to early 2000s
Artificial intelligence research and development did not start until the late 1970s after
economic reform
Microeconomic reform (or often just economic reform) comprises policies directed to achieve improvements in economic efficiency, either by eliminating or reducing distortions in individual sectors of the economy or by reforming economy-wide polici ...
s when
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
announced his famous phrase, "science and technology are primary productive forces" (科技是第一生产力). Deng's speech demonstrated China's commitment to
technological innovation
Technological innovation is an extended concept of innovation. While innovation is a rather well-defined concept, it has a broad meaning to many people, and especially numerous understanding in the academic and business world.
Innovation refers t ...
. While there was a lack of AI-related research between the 1950s and 1960s, some scholars believe this is due to the influence of
cybernetics from the Soviet Union despite the
Sino-Soviet split
The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...
during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
[Cai, Zixing蔡自兴. '中国人工智能40年' (Forty Years of Artificial Intelligence in China), ''Science and Technology Review'' (科技导报), 2016, 34(15): 12 - 32. http://www.kjdb.org/CN/abstract/abstract13768.shtml] In the 1980s, a group of Chinese scientists launched AI research led by
Qian Xuesen
Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineer ...
and
Wu Wenjun
Wu Wenjun ( zh, s=吴文俊; 12 May 1919 – 7 May 2017), also commonly known as Wu Wen-tsün, was a Chinese mathematician, historian, and writer. He was an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), best known for the Wu's method o ...
.
However, during the time, China's society still had a generally conservative view towards AI.
Early AI development in China was difficult and faced numerous challenges. China's government approached these challenges by sending Chinese scholars overseas to study AI and further providing government funds for research projects. The Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (CAAI) was founded in September 1981 and was authorized by
the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
["Introduction to the Chinese Association of Artificial Intelligence". ''中国人工智能学会''.] Even now, CAAI is still the only national academic association in China that specializes in technology and intelligence science.
The first chairman of the executive committee was Qin Yuanxun, who received a PhD in philosophy from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. In 1987, China's first research publication on artificial intelligence was published by
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...
. Beginning in 1993, smart automation and intelligence have been part of China's national technology plan. Since the 2000s, China has further expanded its
R&D funds for AI and the number of government-sponsored research projects has dramatically increased. In 2006, China announced a policy priority for the development of artificial intelligence, which was included in the National Medium and Long Term Plan for the Development of Science and Technology (2006–2020), released by the
State Council.
Late 2010s to early 2020s
The
State Council of China issued "A Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" (State Council Document
017No. 35) on 20 July 2017. In the document, the
CCP Central Committee
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
and the State Council urged governing bodies in China to promote the development of artificial intelligence. Specifically, the plan describes AI as a strategic technology that has become a "focus of international competition".
:2 The document urges significant investment in a number of strategic areas related to AI and calls for close cooperation between the state and private sectors. On the occasion of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping's speech at the first plenary meeting of the Central Military-Civil Fusion Development Committee (CMCFDC), scholars from the
National Defense University
The National Defense University (NDU) is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. As ...
, in their analysis of the integration of military and civilian development, wrote in the ''
PLA Daily
The ''People's Liberation Army Daily'' (), or ''PLA Daily'' for short, is the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Institutionally, the ''PLA Daily'' is the mouthpiece of and speaks for the Central Military Commission ...
'' that the "transferability of social resources" between economic and military ends is an essential component to being a great power.
In 2018, the State Council budgeted $2.1 billion for an AI industrial park in
Mentougou district
Mentougou District () is a district in western Beijing. Spanning , with 266,591 inhabitants (2000 Census), it is subdivided into 4 subdistricts of the city proper of Beijing and 9 towns (1 of which is a suburb of the city proper of Beijing). It bor ...
.
In order to achieve this end, the State Council stated the need for massive talent acquisition, theoretical and practical developments, as well as public and private investments.
Some researchers and scholars argued China's commitment to global AI leadership and technological competition is driven by its previous underperformance in innovation, which is seen as a part of the "
century of humiliation" since the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
by the central government.
[Jinghan Zeng, Securitization of Artificial Intelligence in China, ''The Chinese Journal of International Politics'', Volume 14, Issue 3, Autumn 2021, Pages 417–445, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjip/poab005] There are historically embedded causes to China's anxiety towards securing an international technological dominance – China missed both industrial revolutions, the
one starting in Britain in the mid-18th century, and the
one that originated in America in the late-19th century. Therefore, China's government desires to take advantage of the technological revolution in today's world led by digital technology including AI, to resume China's "rightful" place and to pursue the national rejuvenation proposed by Xi.
Some of the stated motivations that the State Council gave for pursuing its AI strategy include the potential of artificial intelligence for industrial transformation, better social governance and maintaining social stability.
The State Council reports three general milestones for their integration of artificial intelligence into their industrial economy.
The State Council predicted that China would have contributed globally to hardware, software, and methods pertinent to artificial intelligence by 2020. Specifically, the State Council projected the value of core AI industries in China to rise to 150 billion RMB, with a value of over 1 trillion RMB when accounting for related industries.
Future projection
By 2025, the State Council aims for China to make fundamental contributions to basic AI theory and to solidify its place as a global leader in AI research. Further, the State Council aims for AI to become "the main driving force for China's industrial upgrading and economic transformation" by this time. The State Council projects the value of the core AI industry in China to be worth 400 billion RMB, with a value of over 5 trillion RMB when accounting for related industries.
By 2030, the State Council aims to have China be the global leader in the development of artificial intelligence theory and technology. The State Council claims that China will have developed a "mature new-generation AI theory and technology system." At this point, the State Council projects the value of core AI industries to be worth 1 trillion
RMB
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
, with a value of over 10 trillion RMB when accounting for related industries.
List of China's Major AI-Related Policy
China's AI readiness
Government agenda
According to a February 2019 publication by the
Center for a New American Security
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is a Washington, D.C. based think tank established in 2007 by co-founders Michèle Flournoy, board member of military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, and Kurt M. Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Paci ...
,
China's
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
– including
Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
– believes that being at the forefront of AI technology will be critical to the future of global military and economic power competition.
China is by far the United States' most ambitious competitor in the international AI market, and China's 2017 "Next Generation AI Development Plan" describes AI as a "strategic technology" that has become a "focus of international competition".
:2 According to the document, China will seek to develop a core AI industry worth over 150 billion RMB132—or approximately $21.7 billion—by 2020 and will "firmly seize the strategic initiative" and reach "world-leading levels" of AI investment by 2030.
:2-6
According to AI Readiness Index 2020 published by Oxford Insights, China is ranked No.19 globally with an index score of 69.08/100.
[''Government AI readiness index 2020''. Oxford Insights. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.oxfordinsights.com/government-ai-readiness-index-2020] The report highlighted China's score might be higher in reality since the AI index did not measure actual AI implementation itself.
AIDP has divided China's AI development into three stages:
# 2020 as the first benchmark: China's AI industry could match most AI-advanced nations with a value of 150 billion RMB;
# 2025 as the second benchmark: become a world leader in certain AI fields with a value of 400 billion RMB;
# 2030 as the third benchmark: become the world's primary AI innovation hub with a value of over 10 trillion RMB
Global Rank
According to Statista, China's AI market reached over 128 billion RMB by 2020, and yet the market is continuing to grow. In today's global AI racing competition, China shared 19% of the total global AI funding deals, which is ranked No.2 behind the U.S. (41%). According to China's 14th Five-Year Plans, the document covering China's plans for the period between 2021 and 2025 released in 2021 by the National People's Congress, it mentioned the word "smart intelligence" 57 times and highlighted the following goals:
# Breakthrough core AI technology barriers '突破核心技术'
# Enhance the
digital economy and integrate industrial AI implementation to reach a smart economy ecosystem and a full
digital transformation
Digital transformation is the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize non-digital products, services or operations. The goal for its implementation is to increase value through innovation, invention, customer experience or e ...
'打造数字经济优势,融合产业应用与数字化转型,逐渐形成智能经济形态'
# Have a comprehensive regulatory framework addressing potential concerns and risks brought by AI '构建与数字经济发展相适应的政策法规体系'
Industry Readiness
Industry-wise, China's large demographic population generates a massive amount of accessible data for companies and researchers, which offers a crucial advantage in the race of big data. For instance,
facial recognition is one of the most widely AI applications in China. Collecting these large amounts of data from its residences helped further train and expand AI capabilities. China's market is not only conducive and valuable for corporations to further AI R&D but also has offered tremendous economic potential attracting both international and domestic firms to join the AI market. The drastic development of the
information and communication technology
Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications ( telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...
(ICT) industry and AI chipsets in recent years are two examples of it.
China's AI Research & Development
China's AI research and development crosses different sectors and organizations, including private-public collaborations, academia-private collaborations, government-led projects, and many others. Many scholars believe China has adopted a 'catch-up' approach for its AI development, which is also apparent through all the policy documents. For public AI R&D spending, China has outspent the U.S. government over the past few years. The Chinese public AI funding mainly focused on advanced and applied research. The government funding also supported multiple AI R&D in the private sector through venture capitals that are backed by the state. Much analytic agency research showed that, while China is massively investing in all aspects of AI development, facial recognition,
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
,
quantum computing,
medical intelligence Medical Intelligence is defined by the Department of Defense as:
That category of intelligence resulting from collection, evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of foreign medical, bio-scientific, and environmental information that is of intere ...
, and
autonomous vehicles
Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...
are AI sectors with the most attention and funding.
According to national guidance on developing China's
high-tech industrial development zones by the Ministry of Science and Technology, there are fourteen cities and one county selected as an experimental development zone.
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
and
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
provinces have the most AI innovation in experimental areas. However, the focus of AI R&D varied depending on cities and local industrial development and ecosystem. For instance,
Suzhou, a city with a longstanding strong manufacturing industry, heavily focuses on automation and AI infrastructure while
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
focuses more on AI implementations and the education sector.
Recent Chinese achievements in the field demonstrate China's potential to realize its goals for AI development. In 2015, China's leading AI company,
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the l ...
, created AI software capable of surpassing human levels of language recognition, almost a year in advance of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
, the nearest U.S. competitor. In 2016 and 2017, Chinese teams won the top prize at the Large Scale Visual Recognition Challenge, an international competition for
Computer vision systems. Many of these systems are now being integrated into China's
domestic surveillance network and
Social Credit System
The Social Credit System () is a national credit rating and blacklist being developed by the government of the People's Republic of China. The social credit initiative calls for the establishment of a record system so that businesses, indivi ...
, which aims to monitor, and based on social behavior, "grade" every Chinese citizen by 2021.
In China, the majority of peer-reviewed AI publications are associated with academia, which made up approximately 95.4% of the total number in 2019.
[Daniel Zhang, Saurabh Mishra, Erik Brynjolfsson, John Etchemendy, Deep Ganguli, Barbara Grosz, Terah Lyons, James Manyika, Juan Carlos Niebles, Michael Sellitto, Yoav Shoham, Jack Clark, and Raymond Perrault, "The AI Index 2021 Annual Report," AI Index Steering Committee, Human-Centered AI Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, March 2021.] This is similar to the European Union. Interdisciplinary collaborations play an essential role in China's AI R&D, including academic-corporate collaboration, public-private collaborations, and international collaborations.
Projects with corporate-government partnerships are the most common of all kinds. The government incentivizes firms'
technological innovation
Technological innovation is an extended concept of innovation. While innovation is a rather well-defined concept, it has a broad meaning to many people, and especially numerous understanding in the academic and business world.
Innovation refers t ...
through policies, funding, and national endorsements. As the history section mentioned showed, China's central government released a series of policy frameworks and guidance with the embedded goal of being the global AI leader. As for AI publications, China is ranked Top three worldwide following the United States and the European Union for the total number of peer-reviewed AI publications that are produced under a corporate-academic partnership between 2015 and 2019.
Besides, according to an AI index report, China surpassed the U.S. in 2020 in the total number of global AI-related
journal citations.
In terms of AI-related R&D, China-based peer-reviewed AI paper is mainly sponsored by the government.
Industrial Impacts
Economic Impact
According to McKinsey's 2017 report, China's economic growth would enjoy approximately 0.8% - 1.4% annual growth rate from AI-led automation and increases in domestic productivity.
[Barton, D., Woetze, J., Seong, J., & Tian, Q. (2017, April). Artificial Intelligence: Implications for China. McKinsey Global Institute.] Food services, agriculture,
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
, and accommodations are the top industries that will be most benefited from AI deployment. The annual growth rates might vary between agencies. For instance, Accenture estimated AI would add 1.6%
economic growth to China by 2035.
[Purdy, M., Qiu, S. J., & Chen, F. (n.d.). ''How artificial intelligence can drive China's growth''. Accenture. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.accenture.com/cn-en/insight-artificial-intelligence-china] World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
stated that, by 2017, there are two-thirds of the total AI investments worldwide rushing into China resulting in a 67% annual growth rate for China's AI industry. In 2019, an article published by
China Daily
''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Overview
''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...
, a state-sponsored media, specifically highlighted high-technology manufacturing industries as a strong driver to China's stable economic growth.
Most agencies hold optimistic views about AI's economic impact on China's long-term economic growth. In the past, traditional industries in China have struggled with the increase in labor costs due to the growing aging population in China and the low birth rate. With the deployment of AI, operational costs are expected to reduce while an increase in efficiency generates revenue growth. Some highlight the importance of a clear policy built out and governmental support in order to overcome certain adoption barriers including costs and lack of properly trained technical talents and AI awareness.
However, there are concerns about China's deepening income inequality and the ever-expanding imbalanced labor market in China. Low- and medium-income workers might be the most negatively impacted by China's AI development because of rising demands for laborers with advanced skills.
Furthermore, China's economic growth might be disproportionately divided as a majority of AI-related industrial development is concentrated in coastal regions rather than inland.
Military Impact
China is researching various types of air, land, sea, and
undersea
The underwater environment is the region below the surface of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some characterist ...
autonomous vehicles. In the spring of 2017, a civilian Chinese University with ties to the military demonstrated an AI-enabled swarm of 1,000 uninhabited
aerial vehicles at an airshow. A media report released after the fact showed a
computer simulation of a similar
swarm
Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...
formation finding and destroying a
missile launcher
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...
.
:23 Open-source publications indicated that China is also developing a suite of AI tools for
cyber operations
Cyberwarfare is the use of computer technology to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes. As a major developed economy, the United States i ...
.
:27 Chinese development of military AI is influenced in large part by China's observation of U.S. plans for defense innovation and fears of a widening "generational gap" in comparison to the U.S. military. Similar to U.S. military concepts, the Chinese aim to use AI for exploiting large troves of intelligence, generating a common operating picture, and accelerating
battlefield
A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...
decision-making.
:12-14
China's management of its AI ecosystem contrasts with that of the United States.
:6 In general, few boundaries exist between Chinese commercial companies, University
research laboratories
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
, the military, and the central government. As a result, the Chinese government has a direct means of guiding AI development priorities and accessing technology that was ostensibly developed for civilian purposes. To further strengthen these ties, the Chinese government in January 2017, created a
Military-Civil Fusion
Military-civil fusion (, MCF) or civil-military fusion is a strategy and policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with the stated goal of developing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) into a world-class military.
Background
The institutional f ...
Development Commission, which is intended to speed the transfer of AI technology from commercial companies and research institutions to the military.
:19 In addition, the Chinese government is leveraging both lower barriers to
data collection and lower costs to
data labeling to create the large databases on which AI systems train. According to one estimate, China is on track to possess 20% of the world's share of data by 2020, with the potential to have over 30% by 2030.
:12
China's centrally directed effort is investing in the U.S. AI market, in companies working on militarily relevant AI applications, potentially granting it lawful access to U.S. technology and intellectual property. Chinese venture capital investment in U.S. AI companies between 2010 and 2017 totaled an estimated $1.3 billion.
Academia
Although in 2004,
Peking University introduced the first academic course on AI which led other Chinese universities to adopt AI as a discipline,
China faces challenges in recruiting and retaining AI engineers and researchers. Over half of the data scientists in the United States have been working in the field for over 10 years, while roughly the same proportion of data scientists in China have less than 5 years of experience. As of 2017, fewer than 30 Chinese Universities produce AI-focused
experts
An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable so ...
and research products.
:8 Although China surpassed the United States in the number of research papers produced from 2011 to 2015, the quality of its published papers, as judged by peer citations, ranked 34th globally. China is, however, making efforts to address these deficiencies, with a particular focus on the development of military AI applications. Indeed, the
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing Institute of Technology (abbreviated BIT; Simplified Chinese characters, Simplified Chinese: 北京理工大学; Traditional Chinese characters, Traditional Chinese: 北京理工大學; pinyin: Běijīng Lǐgōng Dàxué), is a National u ...
, one of China's premier institutes for
weapons
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
research, recently established the first children's educational program in military AI in the world.
Ethical Concerns
For the past years, there are emerging discussions about AI safety and ethical concerns in both private and public sectors. In 2021, China's Ministry of Science and Technology published the first national ethical guideline, the New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Ethics Code','' on the topic of AI with specific emphasis on user protection, data privacy, and
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
.
This document acknowledges the power of AI and quick technology adaptation by the big corporates for user engagements. The South China Morning Post, a state-backed media, reported that humans shall remain in full decision-making power and rights to opt-in/-out.
Before this, the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence has published the ''
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
AI principles'' calling for essential needs in long-term research and planning of AI ethical principles.
[Wenjun Wu, Tiejun Huang, Ke Gong.Ethical Principles and Governance Technology Development of AI in China Engineering,2020,6(3):302-309.] This document addresses the topics of "security and privacy", "safety and reliability", "transparency", "accountability", and "fairness".
Data security
Data security means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, such as a cyberattack or a data breach.
Technologies
Disk encryption
Disk encryption refe ...
has been the most common topic in AI ethical discussion worldwide, and many national governments have established legislation addressing
data privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
and security. The
Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China
The Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China, ( Chinese: 中华人民共和国网络安全法) commonly referred to as the Chinese Cybersecurity Law, was enacted by the National People’s Congress with the aim of increasing data prote ...
was enacted in 2017 aiming to address new challenges raised by AI development. This document includes Sections about cybersecurity promotion, network operation security,
information security
Information security, sometimes shortened to InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorize ...
, emergency responses, and legal responsibility. In 2021, China's new
Data Security Law (DSL) was passed by the PRC congress, setting up a regulatory framework classifying all kinds of
data collection and
storage in China.
This means all tech companies in China are required to classify their data into categories listed in Digital. Subscriber Line
(DSL) and follow specific guidelines on how to govern and handle
data transfers to other parties.
Leading Industrial Players
Leading AI-centric companies and start-ups include Baidu,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
,
Alibaba, SenseTime
and Yitu Technology.
Chinese AI companies
iFlytek
iFlytek (), styled as iFLYTEK, is a partially state-owned Chinese information technology company established in 1999. It creates voice recognition software and 10+ voice-based internet/mobile products covering education, communication, music, int ...
,
SenseTime,
Cloudwalk and
DJI have received attention for
facial recognition,
sound recognition and
drone technologies.
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2019 hosted in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the latest list of Chinese firms that were selected for China's AI "national team" with assigned specialized AI sectors. China has expanded its national AI team three times since its initial announcement in 2017. The number of firms involved has also expanded from five to fifteen:
* In 2017, Alibaba Cloud (阿里云), Baidu (百度), Tencent (腾讯), iFlytek (科大讯飞) are the initial four firms in China's national AI team
* In September 2018, SenseTime (商汤) became the fifth member of the team
* In 2019, ten more companies are added to the list, including Yitu (依图) and
Xiaomi
Corporation (; ), commonly known as Xiaomi and registered as Xiaomi Inc., is a Chinese designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and related software, home appliances, and household items. Behind Samsung, it is the second largest m ...
(小米)
Scholar Critics
An article published by the Center for a New American Security concluded that "Chinese government officials demonstrated remarkably keen understanding of the issues surrounding AI and
international security. This includes knowledge of the U.S. AI policy discussions," and recommended that "the U.S. policymaking community to similarly prioritize cultivating expertise and understanding of AI developments in China" and "funding, focus, and a willingness among U.S. policymakers to drive large-scale necessary change."
An article in the
MIT Technology Review
''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...
similarly concluded: "China might have unparalleled resources and enormous untapped potential, but the West has world-leading expertise and a strong research culture. Rather than worry about China's progress, it would be wise for
Western nations
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. to focus on their existing strengths, investing heavily in research and education."
Some experts believe that China's intent to be the first to develop military
AI applications may result in comparatively less safe applications, as China will likely be more risk-acceptant throughout the development process. These experts stated that it would be unethical for the U.S. military to sacrifice
safety standards
Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities and processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. In ...
for the sake of external time pressures, but that the United States' more conservative approach to AI development may result in more capable systems in the long run.
[ ]:23
See also
*
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
*
Artificial intelligence arms race A military artificial intelligence arms race is a competition or arms race between two or more states to have their military forces equipped with the best artificial intelligence (AI). Since the mid-2010s many analysts have noted the emergence of s ...
*
China Brain Project
*
Fifth generation computer
The Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) was a 10-year initiative begun in 1982 by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to create computers using massively parallel computing and logic programming. It aimed to create ...
*
Regulation of artificial intelligence
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:China artificial intelligence industry
Artificial intelligence
Economy of China