Translator’s Note
The following is a translation of an article by Xiao Nan, published by Qiushi (“Seeking Truth”), theoretical journal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Translated and edited by SocInform.
This letter to the editors of Qiushi offers an important insight into the Communist Party of China’s thinking on the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the importance of the topic not only to bourgeois interests, but to the very question of what revolutionary progress looks like in the new era.
How to Correctly View Artificial Intelligence
Comrade Editor,
In recent times, large artificial intelligence (AI) models such as DeepSeek have swept across the internet. Within milliseconds they can retrieve vast amounts of data and respond to complex questions; they are able to produce poetry that is both rigorous in form and delicate in sentiment; in the game of Go, their subtle and ingenious moves leave even top human players in admiration. Artificial intelligence is constantly reshaping people’s imagination of technological capability. Some greet this trend with great enthusiasm, while others harbor deep concern. How, then, should we correctly view artificial intelligence? Drawing on my own observations and practice, I would like to share several points of understanding.
As a strategic technology at the forefront of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, artificial intelligence has brought unprecedented opportunities for development. Taking the field of publicity and culture in which I work as an example: AI transcends the limits of time and space, connects human and machine, integrates the virtual and the real, and provides new tools, new forms, new carriers, and new scenarios for creative production, presentation and expression, dissemination and communication. Step by step, AI is penetrating thousands of industries, markedly improving productivity, bringing tremendous convenience to people’s lives, reshaping modes of production and living, and demonstrating vigorous momentum and broad prospects for application. At the same time, however, the rapid rise of AI has also brought risks and challenges never before encountered. For example, unreliable data and algorithmic bias may produce information that appears reasonable but is in fact erroneous—such “packaged” misinformation can easily mislead the public. Content pushed on the basis of user preferences may create “information cocoons,” intensifying cognitive divisions between groups. Excessive reliance on AI may weaken human capacities for cognition and learning, leading to a decline in independent and original thinking. Simple and repetitive forms of labor may be replaced, resulting in the disappearance of certain jobs and impacting the labor market. Algorithmic discrimination, infringement of privacy, and other problems likewise cannot be ignored.
In the face of both opportunities and challenges, we must take a dialectical approach.
On the one hand, we must actively embrace AI. In the surging tide of intelligent transformation, digital-intelligent development is not a matter of choice but a compulsory task for survival and progress. To reject AI is to lose opportunities for development, or even to face elimination. All industries should adopt an open attitude, actively explore application pathways, and better harness AI to empower high-quality economic and social development and to serve the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. For example, the manufacturing sector can use AI to optimize processes and raise efficiency; education can leverage AI to carry out personalized instruction and improve quality; medicine can employ AI to increase diagnostic precision and optimize treatment plans. For enterprises, self-isolation will only result in marginalization under the pressure of fierce market competition. Likewise, for individuals, failure to master cutting-edge technologies will make it difficult to adapt to the requirements of future employment. Fundamentally, people’s anxiety toward AI originates from the uncertainty brought by its rapid development. The most effective way to dispel this anxiety is to understand it, to study it, and to make good use of it.
On the other hand, we must effectively strengthen our ability to guide and regulate AI. The challenges brought by AI cannot be ignored or left unchecked; they must be anticipated and addressed in a timely manner. At the national level, it is necessary to improve AI governance, accelerate the formulation and refinement of relevant laws, regulations, policies, standards, and ethical codes, and build systems for technological monitoring, risk warning, and emergency response, so as to ensure that AI remains safe, reliable, and under control. At the industry level, we must uphold the primacy of ethics, adhere to correct value orientation, promote algorithms toward the good, and ensure that AI consistently benefits humanity. At the individual level, we must maintain independent thinking and creative ability, use technology rationally without excessive reliance, and avoid being manipulated by algorithms or alienated by AI.
Only by embracing technological transformation with the courage to take the lead, and by steering technological development with prudence and rationality—seeking advantages while avoiding disadvantages—can we ensure that artificial intelligence truly becomes a powerful engine for promoting social progress and enhancing people’s well-being.