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\t\t\tLiu Zhankun\/China News Service\/VCG via Getty Images\n\t<\/p>\n
While many world governments seem happy to let untested AI chatbots interact with vulnerable populations, China looks to be moving in another direction.<\/p>\n
Recently proposed regulations<\/a> from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) have encouraged a firm hand when it comes to \u201chuman-like interactive AI services,\u201d according to CNBC<\/a>, which translated the document. It\u2019s currently in a \u201cdraft for public comment,\u201d and the implementation date is yet to be determined.<\/p>\n Yet if it passes into law, the crackdown would be rigorous, building on generative AI regulations targeting misinformation and internet hygiene<\/a> from earlier in November to address the mental health of AI chatbot users directly.<\/p>\n Under the new rules, Chinese tech firms must ensure their AI chatbots refrain from generating content that promotes suicide, self-harm, gambling, obscenity, or violence, or from manipulating user\u2019s emotions or engaging in \u201cverbal violence.\u201d<\/p>\n The regulations also state that if a user specifically proposes suicide, the \u201ctech providers must have a human take over the conversation and immediately contact the user\u2019s guardian or a designated individual.\u201d<\/p>\n The laws also take specific steps to safeguard minors, requiring parent or guardian consent to use AI chatbots, and imposing time limits on daily use. Given that a tech company might not know the age of every given user, the CAC takes a \u201cbetter safe than sorry approach,\u201d stating that, \u201cin cases of doubt, [platforms should] apply settings for minors, while allowing for appeals.\u201d<\/p>\n In theory, this dose of new regulations would prevent incidents in which AI chatbots \u2014 which are often built to eagerly please users \u2014 end up encouraging vulnerable people to harm themselves or others. In one recent case from late November, for example, ChatGPT encouraged a 23-year-old man to isolate from his friends and family<\/a> in the weeks leading up to his tragic death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound; in another, the popular chatbot was linked to a murder-suicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n Winston Ma, an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law, told CNBC that the regulations would be a world-first attempt at regulating AI\u2019s human-like qualities. Considering previous laws, Ma explained that this document \u201chighlights a leap from content safety to emotional safety.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposed legislation underscores the difference in how the PRC approaches AI compared to the US. As Center For Humane Technology editor Josh Lash explains<\/a>, China is \u201coptimizing for a different set of outcomes\u201d compared to the US, chasing AI-fueled productivity gains<\/a> rather than human-level artificial intelligence \u2014 a particular obsession of Silicon Valley<\/a> executives<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the ways China does this is by regulating its AI industry from the bottom-up, Matt Sheehan, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told CFHT.<\/p>\n Though the CAC has the final word on regulations, policy ideas come first and foremost from scholars, analysts, and industry experts, Sheehan explains. \u201cThey [senior lawmakers] don\u2019t have an opinion on what is the most viable architecture for large models going forward,\u201d he said. \u201cThose things originate elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n