The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has triggered an unprecedented technological revolution across the scientific and technological landscape.
Like a double-edged sword, AI offers both opportunities and challenges. At a forum hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology, AI experts discussed how to strengthen safety governance and standardize regulations.
Professor Zhang Ping, academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, stated that the advancements of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) have introduced challenges in terms of safety and ethics.
"Issues related to identity fraud, inappropriate speech, violent rhetoric, and illegal activities based on artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) are frequently encountered," he said. In an example he mentioned, a financial staff member at a multinational company in Hong Kong was deceived by a fraudster posing as the company's CFO through "AI deepfake," resulting in losses of up to 200 million Hong Kong dollars (almost $25.8 million).
Professor Zhang Jianwei, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and academician of the German National Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg, believes that the development of embodied intelligence holds immense potential in various application scenarios, such as enabling more flexible and precise automation, as well as facilitating elderly care and domestic services.
"After the pandemic, the use of robots to replace humans in certain tasks in virus laboratories represents a highly promising industrial scenario," he said.
However, Zhang Jianwei also highlighted the growing significance of ethical concerns, emphasizing the crucial question of how to effectively govern AI.
China has taken swift action to address the pressing issues of AI safety and governance. On July 13, 2023, the Cyberspace Administration of China, in collaboration with six other departments, jointly released the Interim Administrative Measures for GenAI Services. As China's first regulatory document specifically targeting AIGC, it provides policy support for the rapidly developing AIGC technology.
Besides, technical research has been done on strengthening global AI safety governance. Guided by the principles of innovation and technological benevolence, Zhang Ping's team has been working to build a conceptual framework for artificial general intelligence, or AGI.
"It focuses on developing superalignment technology to ensure that AI's outputs, viewpoints, and decisions align with human values," he said.
Zhang Jianwei contributed his thoughts as well. "When training embodied AI, we need to teach it morality, just like educating a child," he noted. "We provide the AI with moral models and data during its training process. Only after this training can it be deployed."
The development of AI technology is a huge transformation for all mankind. Just as the president of the China Association for Science and Technology, Wan Gang, stated in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum, the world should work together to promote the alignment and cooperation of AI-related laws, regulations, and standards and strengthen the assessment of safety risks such as the credibility, reliability, and controllability of AI.
(Cover via 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum)