Abstract
China has announced to the world that it intends to become the
global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), both in terms of developing
and deploying the technology as well as governing it with appropriate
laws and regulations. In light of this declaration, it is tempting to take
the Chinese government at its word and brace for an AI-powered China
of the future.
Plans, however ambitious, do not always reflect reality.
Therefore, when it comes to understanding China's bold AI-related
declarations and actions, it is important to put them into institutional
context and look beyond the appearance of China's stated ambitions
and into the more nuanced reality of how China's existing political and
legal institutions describe and use the term "AI."
On that note, China's AI ambitions have currently served more
immediate rhetorical and political goals rather than substantive ones.
Furthermore, focusing on rhetoric over substance is having significant
and potentially negative impacts on China's political and legal
institutions, leading to institutional decay, the process by which
growing complexity, ambiguity, and transaction costs inhibit
institutions' capacity to rapidly, clearly, and effectively gather and
share information and delineate tasks.