The race to develop AI is happening alongside the race to regulate it — with the latter potentially having profound impacts on the former.
Illustration by Pete Ryan
In July, the UN Security Council held its 9,381st meeting and the very first specifically focused on artificial intelligence. As Secretary-General António Guterres noted, the technology has the potential to turbocharge global development but can also “help people to harm themselves and each other, at massive scale.”
In order to avoid that fate, the Council had invited a briefing from Zeng Yi, a professor at the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the director of the International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance in Beijing.
From a giant video monitor, Zeng told the Security Council a story about a young boy who had asked him whether AI could be used to help a nuclear bomb blow up an asteroid headed for Earth, thus saving humanity.
Zeng Yi speaking via video during the UN Security Council meeting on AI, July 18, 2023. Credit: Zeng Yi via LinkedIn
The boy’s idea, Zeng said, was “at least using AI to solve problems fo
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
A decade ago, China arrived on the global art scene with deep pockets and an abundance of swagger. Recently, however, China's economic downturn has caused a spate of museums to close and once prominent collectors to sell their collections. Can China ever achieve its dreams of "cultural self-confidence"?
The Harvard professor discusses the effects on Chinese society of the country's high-tech development, and how the pandemic may have shifted public attitudes.
The Global Intelligence Platform used by The Wire China