Shanghai, China - China is seeking deeper cooperation with South Africa and other countries in the Global South to advance artificial intelligence (AI) development, strengthen scientific capacity and shape international AI governance.
Li Xiuquan, Director of the Key Science and Technology Fields Research Center at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, said open-source technologies, shared datasets and international capacity-building initiatives could make AI resources more accessible to developing countries.
Li made the remarks while addressing a parallel session at the High-Level Conference on International Cooperation in Open Science underway in Shanghai, China.
The conference precedes the three-day 19th Pujian Innovation Forum in Shanghai, at which South Africa is the Country of Honour.
With a gross domestic product of around R13 trillion, the central east coast city is China’s economic superpower. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Prof Blade Nzimande, is leading a high-powered South African delegation at the gathering. The group includes scientists, researchers, innovators and senior government officials.
“It is a period of transformative change. Going forward, more and more industries will undergo profound transformation as technology continues to evolve,” Li said.
He identified scientific research as one of the fields that could benefit substantially from the technology because of AI’s ability to process complex and multidimensional information.
“Going forward, the development of AI will undoubtedly drive scientific progress and produce increasingly innovative results,” he said.
Li said China viewed cooperation with countries in the Global South as an important component of its international AI programme. This includes exchanges involving Chinese researchers, United Nations institutions and participating countries.
“Through international forums, we have conducted various South–South exchange programmes involving teams from China, the United Nations and partner countries, with a focus on strengthening AI capacity. We have also conducted numerous exchange programmes under the Belt and Road Initiative, targeting the Global South,” he said.
China has released a Belt and Road Initiative AI Innovation Action Plan and a three-year programme focusing on AI, human resources and science and technology capacity-building in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries.
The country was also pursuing international collaboration in areas such as unmanned systems, intelligent equipment and intelligent societies.
Open innovation, Li said, was one of the four fundamental principles underpinning China’s approach to AI development.
“China’s approach to AI innovation and development encourages open-source collaboration. We also encourage Chinese AI industries to participate in AI governance,” he said.
Chinese research teams had released leading AI products and models distinguished by their efficiency and comparatively low energy consumption, Li said.
“More importantly, these research teams are making their models open source and available to the rest of the world. China is a global leader in this field, and Chinese products have become an important driving force in AI development.”
Access to data was another central part of this approach. Li said approximately 30 000 datasets had been made publicly available for use by AI institutions and government agencies.
“We have established different types of open-source, publicly accessible datasets for training AI models.”
He stressed, however, that technological development has to be accompanied by safeguards addressing the risks associated with AI.
“Security and development must advance in tandem. That is why we have introduced governance rules for new-generation AI, principles for responsible AI, ethical guidelines for new-generation AI and interim regulations governing generative AI services.”
He said governments needed industry-specific measures that addressed both the immediate and longer-term challenges arising from the expanding use of AI.
Li also called for developing countries to participate in shaping an inclusive international governance system instead of remaining passive recipients of AI technology.
“China believes it must contribute more to the establishment of a global AI governance architecture. At this stage, AI development is becoming more difficult and demanding, creating a greater need for collaborative cooperation. Stakeholders must work together to guide the development of AI,” he added.
Li invited participating countries to deepen exchanges and share practical experience. -SAnews.gov.za
