A community-of-practice approach to understanding Chinese policymaking on AI ethics

Abstract: Extant literature has not fully accounted for the changes underway in China’s perspectives on the ethical risks of artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the ethical principles promulgated in Chinese policies on AI, such as privacy, fairness, justice, and inclusiveness, bear some similarity to those developed in Western countries, but they embody different connotations and philosophical assumptions in Chinese culture.This article develops a community-of-practice (CoP) approach to the study of Chinese policymaking in the field of AI. It shows that the Chinese approach to ethical AI emerges from the communication of practices of a relatively stable group of actors from three domains – the government, academia, and the private sector. This Chinese CoP is actively cultivated and led by government actors. This paper draws attention to CoP configurations during collective situated-learning and problem-solving among its members that inform the evolution of Chinese ethical concerns of AI. In so doing, it demonstrates how a practice-oriented approach can contribute to interpreting Chinese politics on AI governance.

Author bio: Dr Guangyu Qiao-Franco is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Radbound University and Senior Researcher of the ERC funded AutoNorms Project, University of Southern Denmark. Her research leverages practice theory, norm contestation, norm diffusion, and actor-network theory to interpret legal and foreign policy instruments developed by the Chinese government, as well as other developing countries. Her work has been published in International Affairs, The Pacific Review, International Relations of the Asia Pacific, and Policy Studies, among others.

Recorded Presentation | 26 April 2023

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