Artificial Intelligence with Chinese Characteristics

This book is the first book-length study focusing on China's Artificial Intelligence (AI) politics, in line with China's open ambition of becoming an AI superpower by 2030. China's bold AI practices have already drawn considerable policy, media and academic attention, however, very limited studies have been conducted in the field. The book fills the gap by studying the following three aspects of China's AI politics. First, AI and big data related technology has tremendous potential in transforming the form of our governments. How have those technologies been empowering China's authoritarian governance? What are the opportunities and challenges brought by China's bold AI practices? Will AI strengthen or undermine the authoritarian rule? Second, there is a clear global trend of labelling AI as a security matter. What factors have driven this securitization trend in China? What are the official discourses and how does this security politics work in China's authoritarian context?The third aspect tries to understand China's domestic AI politics and its implications for global order. To many, Beijing's bold AI plans represent a new area for US-China geopolitical competition. The narrative of a so-called "AI race" or "AI cold war" has made for many headlines. With a few exceptions, the Chinese approach towards AI development is frequently labelled as a "top-down" national strategy. Is this really true? Which domestic and international actors have driven China's AI plans? How has China's domestic AI politics impacted on its global ambition? This book studies these three inter-related aspects to provide an in-depth analysis on China's AI politics.