China’s Side Effects on AI Continues

China has expressed confidence and expectation in its artificial intelligence (AI) technology rollout since the advent of Dipsych. However, there are also various side effects such as fraud targeting middle-aged and elderly people with fake characters.

On the 12th, Chinese media Pengpai reported that various social problems caused by videos made by featuring fake characters with artificial intelligence have reached the level of crime. During the two meetings (National People’s Congress, National People’s Political Consultative Conference), which closed the previous day, the Chinese government announced that it would focus its efforts on high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence and training human resources, but at the same time, some pointed out the social problems caused by artificial intelligence technology.

Jin Dong, a famous Chinese actor and member of the National People’s Political Consultative Conference, said, “Some viewers were deeply deceived by videos of people changing their faces with artificial intelligence. It is very serious. I hope there will be better rules,” drawing attention online. Last year, an old female fan in China’s Jiangxi Province borrowed 2 million yuan from an artificial intelligence-generated video that turned her face into a vibrating actor, Feng Pai reported.

The issue of emotionally relying on fake characters more than real characters and using them to make money was also addressed. A fake male character who calls a middle-aged woman “sister” and gives emotional comfort is inducing the purchase of products on social media. In fact, this account opens a product sales window to sell health foods and jewelry. The middle-aged and elderly, addicted to the cute acting of the “fake grandson” on the screen or the firm advice of the “fake expert,” are satisfying their emotional needs regardless of the authenticity of the character in the video, Pengpai pointed out. A doctor said, “I think some words from online teachers and experts are true, but I don’t want to hear the truth that my family tells.”

The creation of fake characters is already being industrialized in China. It is known that outsourcing companies that make artificial intelligence characters have appeared for 50 to 10,000 yuan. Citing economic media outlet Lanjing Chaijing, Pengpai said that the companies create artificial intelligence characters and provide guidelines for operating social media accounts using them.

Platform companies that operate social media are strengthening the identification and control of artificial intelligence synthetic content, but even that is suffering from rapid technological development. Lisa, who studies artificial intelligence at an information technology (IT) company, told Pengpai, “The content created these days has become more realistic, and the difference between the actual image and the created image is gradually decreasing.”

JENNIFER KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL