BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Multiple Chinese scientific groups on Monday jointly issued an initiative, calling for establishing an open, fair, inclusive and effective global artificial intelligence (AI) governance system.
A total of 16 societies affiliated with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), including those in the fields of automation, electronics, computer science and AI, issued the Initiative of the Global Science and Technology Society on AI Governance.
The initiative underscores the beneficial outcomes of AI and the imperative of security, saying that increasing the well-being of humanity should be the fundamental guiding principle for AI academic research, while ensuring security should be the baseline requirement for research and governance.
Fairness and balanced development are also highlighted in the initiative, which stresses that all countries should participate equally in AI research and governance. "We strictly oppose technological hegemony, academic barriers, exclusive 'small circles,' and unreasonable technological monopolies," the document reads.
Guiding the public to accurately understand the current stages of technological development and its potential risks is also necessary, it says, stressing the need to conduct AI science popularization and public dialogue through diverse channels.
Noting the cross-border nature of AI development and the shared responsibility for its governance, the initiative calls on scientific and technological societies to enhance international academic exchange and cooperation with an open and inclusive posture. It urges the advancement of "AI for good" via pragmatic and effective measures, to contribute wisdom and strength in promoting AI technologies to benefit humanity and in building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Liang Zheng, director of the AI governance research center at Tsinghua University, said China has consistently placed equal emphasis on development and security in AI global governance.
As major drivers of innovative research, concept dissemination and practical advancement, scientific and technological groups have the responsibility of building consensus, defining boundaries and offering solutions to promote the development of global AI for good, Liang explained.
In late March, the CAST and several Chinese scientific groups announced boycotts of a top-tier international AI conference after the event cited a U.S. sanctions list in barring certain Chinese scholars from submitting papers. These Chinese groups said that politicizing academic exchange undermines the core values of openness, inclusiveness, equality and cooperation, and runs counter to the widely recognized norms of the international academic community. ■
