China plays a leading role in the global development of artificial intelligence (AI) and has performed well in the area of AI governance, according to the recently published AI Governance International Evaluation Index (AGILE) compiled by the Center for Long-term Artificial Intelligence and the International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance under the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Automation. The evaluation covered 39 parameters to comprehensively assess AI governance in 14 representative countries, in a bid to depict the current level of AI governance and offer insights for the enhancement of AI governance systems. The index reveals that China, with a score of 68.5, ranks second overall among the 14 evaluated countries, with the United States heading the table with a score of slightly above 70.
The AGILE Index score demonstrates a positive correlation with the per capita GDP of the evaluated countries. China’s scores are significantly higher than its per capita GDP would indicate, thanks to its superior quality AI development and effective AI governance. Although the country demonstrates notable strengths in AI development, it faces challenges in AI infrastructure building, said the report accompanying the index findings. Among five of eight key indicators, such as articles published on AI, professionals, patents granted, AI systems published, top 500 supercomputer FLOPs, co-location data centers, total funding of AI companies and start-ups, China secures the second spot with contributions ranging from 10% to 33% of the total. China stands close to the United Kingdom in terms of developed AI systems, occupying nearly 10% of the total. However, with only 2.5% of the total, China is at ninth place with regard to infrastructure of AI data centers, which conduct massive data processing and enable the development of AI applications at scale.
The total volume of literature on AI governance has increased at a fast clip in recent years, and the growth rate of related publications from China was higher than that of other countries, the report said. In 2021, China’s proportion of AI governance publications reached 23.1%, making it the leader among the 14 countries. Zeng Yi, Director of the International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance, said the rapid development of AI technology is profoundly transforming human society and raising a series of problems as well. The widespread application of generative AI, represented by large language models, has ushered in a new stage in AI governance, the China Daily reports.
