China detains man for using ChatGPT to create fake news about a train crash

Chinese police have detained a man named Hong who allegedly used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to generate fake news and disseminate it online. This is likely the country's first detention related to the use of AI-generated fake news. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the cyber division of a county police bureau became aware of the case when they noticed a fabricated news piece that falsely reported the death of nine individuals in a nearby train accident on April 25.

Over 20 accounts on Baijiahao, a blog-style platform operated by Chinese search engine giant Baidu, posted the article, which had received over 15,000 clicks by the time the authorities discovered it.

The police traced the origins of the article to a company owned by Hong, who operated personal media platforms registered in Shenzhen in Guangdong province in southern China. Hong was subsequently detained after a police team searched his home and his computer.

According to the police statement, Hong admitted to using ChatGPT to generate multiple versions of the same fake story. By circumventing the duplication check function, he entered the components of popular social stories from previous years in China and shared them on his Baijiahao accounts.

Although ChatGPT is not directly accessible to Chinese IP addresses, Chinese users can still use its service through a reliable virtual private network (VPN) connection.

As per the Gansu public security department, Hong was suspected of committing the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," which carries a maximum punishment of five years. However, offenders can be jailed for ten years and given additional penalties in cases that are deemed especially severe.

This marks the initial detention by Chinese authorities after the introduction of Beijing's first regulations to govern the use of "deepfake" technology, which came into effect in January. The provisions define deep synthesis as the use of technologies, including deep learning and augmented reality, to generate text, images, audio, and video and to create virtual scenarios.

For a while now, China's top internet regulator has expressed worry that uncontrolled growth and utilization of deep synthesis technology may result in its use in criminal activities like online frauds or defamation. To avoid public confusion, China's rules state that videos and photos produced using deep synthesis technology must be labeled "clearly."

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