ChatGPT sparks investment frenzy and soul searching in China’s artificial intelligence drive
- While China had declared AI strategically important as early as 2018, ChatGPT has shattered illusions about the country’s technological prowess
- A censored internet, compounded by the lack of access to advanced chips, could hinder China’s ambitions to create a true equivalent to ChatGPT
When the world first witnessed the power of OpenAI’s conversational bot ChatGPT late last year, one social media post quickly went viral in China, attempting to explain why this artificial intelligence (AI) breakthrough did not happen in the country.
The most widely-shared answer, provided by an anonymous author, was that Chinese technology firms were just too short-sighted to bear the cost of long-term investment, choosing instead to rush towards technologies that can be quickly commercialised.
“When the kid next door publishes a revolutionary doctorate paper, don’t ask why that kid is so smart,” it said. “You also have a smart kid in your house, but instead of supporting his study, you asked him to make quick money while he was still able to perform manual labour.”
Many netizens find the metaphor apt in describing the root of China’s technological shortcomings. Despite strong policy and financial support by the state, as well as ample private investment, the country has been unable to beat the US to the punch in creating a cutting-edge AI chatbot like ChatGPT.
In 2018, President Xi Jinping conducted a special study session with the Politburo. It concluded that AI was strategically important, and could lead to a technological revolution and industrial changes with “profound impact on economic development, social progress, and the pattern of the international political economy”.
With the blessing of China’s top leadership, government and private funding poured into domestic AI start-ups.
