Guardrails needed for AI growth

Rising concerns

Zhang, the lawyer, praised AI for being the core driving force for the latest round of technological and industrial revolution, but said that data security and emerging disputes brought by the technology have raised concerns.

"If AI systems are hacked or infected with viruses, they could endanger personal information, public order and even national security," he said, noting that the construction of an AI security framework should be made a priority.

Zhong Zheng, a deputy to the 14th NPC and vice-president of Chinese home appliance maker Midea Group, told Guangzhou Daily that her concerns focus on the risk of those who use AI to create fake videos that mimic the appearance and voices of celebrities or experts.

"This AI-generated content can mislead and defraud consumers, especially the elderly, causing significant financial losses," the paper quoted her as saying.

In October, Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Chinese tech company Xiaomi, was troubled by a series of videos that used AI to imitate his voice. "I don't think using AI in this way is a good thing," said Lei, who is also an NPC deputy, commenting on the issue.

He wrote on social media that the use of AI for face swapping and voice syntheses will trigger violations of portrait rights and personal information, and even lead to fraud.

The improper use or abuse of AI can cause irreparable damage to the reputation and image of individuals or enterprises, and pose risks to social governance, he added.

Dispute handling

Chinese courts have seen a rising number of lawsuits related to AI as its application spreads.

In April, the Beijing Internet Court heard a case in which a voice-over artist claimed that her voice had been used without her consent in audiobooks circulating online. The voice had been processed by AI.

The plaintiff took five companies to court, including a cultural media enterprise that had provided recordings of her voice for unauthorized use, an AI software developer and a voice-dubbing app operator.

The court found that the cultural media company sent the plaintiff's recordings to the software developer without her permission, and the developer used AI to mimic her voice to create AI-generated products.

Because the AI-powered voice mimicked the plaintiff's vocal characteristics, intonation and pronunciation style to a high degree, it was eventually identified as her voice, the court said, ruling that the behaviors of the cultural media company and the AI software developer infringed upon the woman's voice rights under China's Civil Code.

Earlier, the court concluded China's first case on the copyright of an image generated using AI, identifying the AI-generated picture as an artwork under protection because of the originality and intellectual input of its human creator.

In February, a court in Wuhan, Hubei province, also ruled in favor of a netizen whose AI-powered art was used in an advertisement without her permission.

Wu Yiqin, a CPPCC National Committee member, said that strengthening copyright protection has become a crucial issue in the development of AI.

He likened AI to a double-edged sword, underscoring that it involves not only the rights and interests of a broad range of literary, artistic and technological creators, as well as the standardized and healthy development of the copyright industry, but also the high-quality growth of China's digital economy.