Workplace Artificial Intelligence Regulation in China: Between Efficiency and Social Stability

Abstract

C hina's progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is remarkable. It has rapidly become a global leader in AI research, producing a significant volume of publications and patents. Additionally, China has excelled in the commercialization of AI, especially in sectors such as speech and image recognition. The development of a digital and AI-related economy has dramatically increased the size of the gig economy, with an official estimate of approximately 200 million workers in 2021, 1 among which 84 million were in new forms of employment such as food delivery riders, couriers, and ridehailing drivers. 2 Most recently, the country has set itself apart by introducing some of the world's earliest and most comprehensive regulations concerning algorithms and platform work, deepfakes, and generative AI, marking it as a front-runner in AI regulation compared to other jurisdictions. How does China regulate AI? And what are the impacts on the Chinese workplace?Through an examination of major national-level AI-related policies and regulations through early 2024, especially focusing on their implications for the workplace, we contend that the Chinese Party-State adopts an instrumental approach in crafting and implementing AI policies and regulations. In the work and employment arena, this approach seeks to strike a balance between the objectives of efficiency and social stability. Although public input occasionally influences labor-friendly regulations, the predominant emphasis on economic growth over labor protection leaves workers vulnerable to the impact of AI, tech firms, and the overarching authoritarian legal and political framework.