Man Arrested For Using ChatGPT In China
Authorities in China have arrested a man for allegedly using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence text generator, to create a fake train crash story which he later published online. The suspect, whose surname is Hong, was arrested in the Gansu province of northern China.
According to the police report posted in WeChat, Hong used ChatGPT to produce news articles about a train accident that killed several people and then posted them on Baidu's platform, Baijiahao. It is noteworthy that the use of ChatGPT is illegal in China, where the internet is strictly regulated.
While the use of ChatGPT is prevalent across the globe, the Chinese government has issued strict guidelines for companies operating in the generative AI space. The guidelines by the Cyberspace Administration of China dictate that any content generated via AI should "reflect the core values of socialism and must not contain subversion of state power."
As per the report by Bloomberg, Hong's case has become the first arrest of its kind and carries a penalty of up to five years in prison for the alleged crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." The technology, developed by OpenAI, a Microsoft-backed company, was launched for public use in 2022.
Despite various attempts by Google and other Chinese tech giants including Baidu and Alibaba to build their versions of chatbots, the regulations around the technology are yet to be formulated in European countries and the US. Chinese authorities have already developed rules for companies operating in the generative AI space. The rules state that any content generated by AI bots must be accurate and reflect the core values of socialism.
The case of Hong is expected to be a test case of the new legislation that will further define the use and application of generative AI in China.
