China moves to regulate digital humans amid AI boom
China’s cyberspace regulator has issued draft regulations to oversee digital people’s online development, requiring clear labeling and banning of services that could mislead children or increase addiction.
The proposed rules from the Cyberspace Administration of China would require prominent “digital human” labels on all virtual human content and ban digital humans from providing “virtual intimate relationships” to those under 18, according to rules posted for public comment by May 6.
The draft regulations would also prohibit the use of others’ personal information to create digital humans without their consent or the use of virtual humans to bypass identity verification systems; This reflects Beijing’s efforts to maintain control in the face of advances in artificial intelligence.
The draft rules also state that digital people are prohibited from disseminating content that endangers national security, encourages the subversion of state power, promotes secession or undermines national unity.
According to the document, service providers are advised to prevent and resist content that is sexually suggestive, depicts fear, cruelty, or promotes discrimination based on ethnicity or region.
Providers are also encouraged to take necessary precautions to intervene and provide professional assistance when users demonstrate suicidal or self-harming tendencies.
China made clear its goal of aggressively adopting AI across its economy in its new five-year policy plan published in March.
This crackdown comes with a tightening of governance in the booming industry to ensure security and alignment with the country’s socialist values.
The new rules aim to fill a gap in governance in the digital human sector and set clear red lines for the healthy development of the sector, according to an analysis published on the cyberspace regulator’s website.
“The management of digital virtual people is no longer just a matter of industry norms; rather, it has become a strategic scientific problem that concerns the security of cyberspace, public interests and the high-quality development of the digital economy,” he said.
