Influencer Editorial Team
China’s Cyberspace Research Institute has unveiled a new large language model (LLM) and conversational AI designed to promote and discuss the philosophies of President Xi Jinping. This AI, dubbed XiBot, is currently undergoing internal testing and has not yet been released for public use.
XiBot is built on a comprehensive collection of government documents, enabling users to query them through a generative AI interface. Among these documents is material from “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” a book encapsulating the president’s core political philosophies. This book is widely available in China and can often be found in airports frequented by Chinese tourists and members of the Chinese diaspora, translated into various local languages.
Xi’s thoughts are heavily featured on Chinese government websites and in news outlets. Important speeches delivered by Xi are promptly reproduced and disseminated online. Therefore, the creation of Chat Xi-PT is a natural progression for the Chinese government, aiming to ensure Xi’s philosophies are accessible through modern technological mediums such as chatbots.
While generative AI is known for occasionally producing inaccuracies or “hallucinations,” this may be less of a concern in China, where Xi’s perspectives are considered authoritative and unchallengeable. This controlled environment could minimize the political risks associated with AI-generated content.
A humorous suggestion from The Register posited that a similar AI could be developed for North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, termed Kim-Jong AI. In reality, the concept of creating AI representations of notable individuals, whether contemporary or historical, is already being explored. Dr. Simon See, global head of Nvidia’s AI Technology Center, has indicated awareness of AI avatars created from recordings and images of loved ones. He also speculated about the potential to develop generative AI replicas of historical figures like Napoleon, utilizing their letters and documented histories.
Discussing this concept with family led to mixed reactions, with some expressing concern over the potential for recreating and spreading the ideologies of history’s most notorious tyrants. Such concerns are particularly relevant in the context of social media, where any expression of these ideologies could quickly gain traction and enter mainstream discourse.
However, in China, any unauthorized AI or content that could be construed as criticism of Xi is swiftly censored. The strict regulation ensures that only government-approved AI makes it online, preventing the dissemination of unauthorized or potentially subversive material.
