Fang Bingxing, considered the father of China's Great Firewall, has raised concerns over GPT-4, warning that it could lead to an "information cocoon" as the generative artificial intelligence (AI) service can provide answers to everything.
Fang said the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI and now released as the more powerful ChatGPT-4 version, pose a big challenge to governments around the world, according to an interview published on Thursday by Red Star News, a media affiliate to state-backed Chengdu Economic Daily.
"People's perspectives can be manipulated as they seek all kinds of answers from AI," he was quoted as saying.
Fang, a computer scientist and former government official, is widely considered the chief designer of China's notorious internet censorship and surveillance system. He played a key role in creating and developing the Great Firewall, a sophisticated system of internet filters and blocks that allows the Chinese government to control what its citizens can access online.
The Great Firewall has been fortified over the past decade, blocking Chinese netizens' access to a wide range of foreign websites and online services including Facebook, Twitter and Google.
Many expected that China's heavily-censored internet would be a challenge for Chinese tech companies in developing a ChatGPT-like service because it is hard to predict and control answers.
China's powerful internet regulators have told Chinese tech companies not to offer ChatGPT access to the public, and they need to inform the authorities before launching their own ChatGPT-like services, according to a report by Nikkei Asia in February, citing sources.
After Microsoft revealed its formidable AI-powered office toolkit, the frenzy set off by ChatGPT continues in China despite obvious gaps between China's ChatGPT alternatives and their foreign peers.
Chinese search engine giant Baidu was first among local internet companies to roll out a ChatGPT-like service, calling it Ernie Bot, or Wenxin Yiyan in Chinese.
However, the debut of Ernie Bot on Thursday in Beijing was disappointing, sending its shares down 6.4 per cent for the day in Hong Kong. Baidu's shares shot up on Friday morning after investment banks including Citigroup gave bullish outlooks on the performance of Baidu's Ernie Bot in their reports, according to Bloomberg.
Fang also warned that when AI develops further, it could pose threats to humans. "Now it's simply software used in an online chat-like scenario. If it's incorporated into robots and cars, we need to stay vigilant for the potential harm they could do to humans."
Similar warnings are not in short supply in China. Zhou Hongyi, a Chinese billionaire and co-founder and CEO of the internet security company Qihoo 360, said in February that ChatGPT may become self-aware and threaten humans within 2 to 3 years.
Many scientists have discredited such a scenario in which AI turns against humanity.