- Chinese police have arrested a man on suspicion of using ChatGPT to create a fake news article about a train accident.
- Gansu provincial police have arrested Hong under the first law governing “deep synthesis technology” introduced by China this year.
- The arrest is believed to be the first time enforcement action has been taken in China under an unprecedented law related to artificial intelligence.
This photo illustration shows the ChatGPT logo in its Washington, DC office on March 15, 2023.
Stephanie Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese police have arrested a man on suspicion of using ChatGPT to create a fake news story about a train accident. This is believed to be the first case taken in China under an unprecedented law related to artificial intelligence.
The lawsuit highlights how Chinese authorities seek to regulate and control the use of AI as technology advances.
Police in northwestern China’s Gansu province have detained a man surnamed Hong on suspicion of fabricating a news story about a train accident that killed nine people.
Authorities found that more than 20 accounts posted the article on a blogging platform owned by Chinese search giant Baidu, garnering more than 15,000 views.
Hong allegedly used ChatGPT to create slightly different versions of fake news articles in order to pass duplicate checks on the Baidu-owned platform.
Created by US company OpenAI, ChatGPT is an example of a chatbot based on generative AI technology that allows the software to generate responses based on user prompts and questions. For example, a user can ask her ChatGPT to come up with a story based on specific instructions.
Gansu provincial police have arrested Hong under the first law governing “deep synthesis technology” introduced by China this year. Deep synthesis technology refers to AI used to generate text, images, videos, or other media. The law states that deep synthesis services cannot be used to spread fake news.
China drafted the law in an attempt by authorities to stay ahead of technology at a time when ChatGPT is fast-growing and spreading fast. China’s Internet is heavily censored and controlled. The Chinese government is aiming to introduce laws to control new technologies that could raise concerns for the central government.
ChatGPT is blocked in China, but you can access it using a Virtual Private Network (software that helps you bypass the country’s internet restrictions).
The Chinese tech giant is currently piloting its own rival to ChatGPT. However, these are not chatbots as widely used as ChatGPT. Instead, Chinese companies are taking a more cautious approach, some targeting specific uses so as not to scare regulators and the government, analysts told CNBC.
For example, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen AI product will eventually be deployed in its workplace communication software DingTalk and smart home appliance provider Tmall Genie.
