Remarks by Ambassador Zhang Jun at the UN Security Council Briefing on Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities and Risks for International Peace and Security

• Authority: Chinese central government
• Jurisdiction: China
• Collections: Chinese law and policy
• Most recent activity: Proposed
• Most recent activity date: 2023-07-18

Risk subdomain coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the risk subdomain are explicitly described.

• Cyberattacks, weapon development or use
• Power centralization and unfair distribution
• Competitive dynamics
• Governance failure
• AI possessing dangerous capabilities

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation
• Compromise of privacy
• AI system security vulnerabilities
• False or misleading information
• Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale
• Loss of human agency and autonomy
• Increased inequality and decline in employment
• AI pursuing its own goals
• Lack of capability or robustness

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

The document has minimal to good coverage of approximately 10-12 subdomains, with strongest focus on malicious actors (4.1, 4.2), competitive dynamics (6.4), governance failure (6.5), AI system safety (7.1, 7.2, 7.3), and socioeconomic impacts (6.1, 6.2). Coverage is concentrated in security, misuse prevention, governance structures, and fairness domains.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• National Security

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Trade, Transportation & Utilities
• Information
• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Educational Services
• Health Care & Social Assistance
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This is a diplomatic policy statement rather than sector-specific regulation. It mentions AI applications in healthcare, autonomous driving, and military contexts as examples, but does not establish governance measures specific to any particular economic sector. The document proposes general AI governance principles applicable across all sectors.

Legislative Status

Soft Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a diplomatic statement at the UN Security Council presenting China's policy positions and principles for AI governance. It uses aspirational and recommendatory language ('should adhere to', 'need to') without creating binding legal obligations or enforcement mechanisms.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: China (Chinese Government); Ambassador Zhang Jun; United Nations Security Council
• Summary: The document is a statement by China's UN Ambassador presenting China's positions and principles for AI governance at a UN Security Council briefing. China is proposing these governance principles and frameworks for international consideration.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Developer, AI_Governance_Actor, AI_Deployer
• Entities: International community; All countries; Developing countries; Leading technology enterprises; Developed countries
• Summary: The governance principles are directed at multiple actors including countries (especially developed nations), technology enterprises developing AI, and the broader international community. The document explicitly addresses technology developers' responsibilities and countries' obligations.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United Nations; Individual countries' governments
• Summary: The document advocates for UN coordination and individual countries establishing their own governance systems, but does not specify concrete enforcement mechanisms. Enforcement would be through national governments implementing their own frameworks.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United Nations; International organizations; Government departments; Research and educational institutions
• Summary: The document calls for monitoring and coordination through the UN framework and various stakeholders, though specific monitoring bodies are not designated. It emphasizes the need for detection, evaluation, and risk warning mechanisms.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Deploy
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document addresses multiple AI lifecycle stages with emphasis on the entire lifecycle. It explicitly mentions 'entire life cycle' evaluation and covers planning/design through ethics principles, deployment through safety requirements, and operation/monitoring through ongoing risk assessment. The focus is on governance principles applicable across all stages rather than detailed technical requirements for specific stages.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

• AI Systems
• Open Weight / Open Source

Technical Scope Summary

The document uses general terminology referring to 'AI' and 'AI technology' without distinguishing between specific technical categories. It does not explicitly mention AI models vs systems, foundation models, generative AI, or compute thresholds. The scope appears to cover AI broadly across all technical implementations.