The Nonlinear Library EA - China x AI Reference List by Saad Siddiqui
Mar 13, 2024
04:40
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: China x AI Reference List, published by Saad Siddiqui on March 13, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum.
Background
There are several China-focused AI reading lists / curricula out there (e.g.:
AI governance & China: Reading list (2023),
FHI Syllabus (2020),
(Basic) Chinese AI Regulation Reading List (2023))
They are either relatively brief or somewhat outdated. Our reading list aims to provide a more comprehensive set of key resources when it comes to learning about China, AI safety and policy
We incorporated readings from these reading lists where it felt relevant
This list is based off a community-generated set of readings that were used for a 6-week AI and China discussion group run by the China & Global Priorities Group in 2023
You can access a version of the reference list on our website too.
Structure
The list is designed as a longlist that can act as a starting point for folks looking to dive deeper into this topic and various sub-topics - it is not a snapshot of the 3 most important readings per topic area
The entire list is broken down into key themes
Domestic AI Governance
International AI Governance
Key actors and their views on AI risks
AI Inputs
Resources to follow
We have added in commentary where we felt it would be useful to do so (e.g., we were made aware of potential factual inaccuracies or biased views)
Within sections, sources are arranged roughly in order of relevance, not chronology. Sources earlier in a section are more foundational, while later ones are either primary sources that require more context to analyze or older reports/analysis. Sometimes we put related readings next to each other.
Ways to get involved
Feel free to suggest additional readings
using this form - we're doing some amount of vetting to prevent the list from ballooning out of control
Join the
China & Global Priorities Group if you want to be notified about further discussion groups organized
Caveats around sources and structures
Epistemic status:
This resource list was put together in a voluntary capacity by a group of non-Chinese folks with backgrounds in China Studies and professional work experience on China- and/or AI-related issues.
We spent several hours on resource collection and sense-checked items based on their style, content and methodology. We do not necessarily endorse all of these works as "very good," but did exclude stuff where we could see that it is obviously low quality.
There are many sub-topics where we struggled to find very high-quality material but we still included some publications to give interested readers a start.
We expect that most of our audience will not be able to read Chinese easily or fluently, and as such we have provided many English sources. However, it's important to remember that gaining a deep and concrete understanding of this space is really hard even with Chinese language skills and lived experience in China, so readers without those skills and experiences should be cautious about forming very strong views based on the select few sources that are included here.
Machine translation is useful but imperfect in many ways.
Machine translation will not be able to tell you the significance of specific word choice, which potentially requires deeper knowledge of what terminology means in the broader ideological context of the party-state (this is especially true for official statements and documents).
Moreover, official English versions of Chinese government documents sometimes differ from the Chinese version!
What is Lost in Translation? Differences between Chinese Foreign Policy Statements and Their Official English Translations, Mokry, 2022
China is not a monolith; sources you read that claim that 'China does X' should be treated with caution. Different actors within China have different aims and while it's true that the party-state ...
Background
There are several China-focused AI reading lists / curricula out there (e.g.:
AI governance & China: Reading list (2023),
FHI Syllabus (2020),
(Basic) Chinese AI Regulation Reading List (2023))
They are either relatively brief or somewhat outdated. Our reading list aims to provide a more comprehensive set of key resources when it comes to learning about China, AI safety and policy
We incorporated readings from these reading lists where it felt relevant
This list is based off a community-generated set of readings that were used for a 6-week AI and China discussion group run by the China & Global Priorities Group in 2023
You can access a version of the reference list on our website too.
Structure
The list is designed as a longlist that can act as a starting point for folks looking to dive deeper into this topic and various sub-topics - it is not a snapshot of the 3 most important readings per topic area
The entire list is broken down into key themes
Domestic AI Governance
International AI Governance
Key actors and their views on AI risks
AI Inputs
Resources to follow
We have added in commentary where we felt it would be useful to do so (e.g., we were made aware of potential factual inaccuracies or biased views)
Within sections, sources are arranged roughly in order of relevance, not chronology. Sources earlier in a section are more foundational, while later ones are either primary sources that require more context to analyze or older reports/analysis. Sometimes we put related readings next to each other.
Ways to get involved
Feel free to suggest additional readings
using this form - we're doing some amount of vetting to prevent the list from ballooning out of control
Join the
China & Global Priorities Group if you want to be notified about further discussion groups organized
Caveats around sources and structures
Epistemic status:
This resource list was put together in a voluntary capacity by a group of non-Chinese folks with backgrounds in China Studies and professional work experience on China- and/or AI-related issues.
We spent several hours on resource collection and sense-checked items based on their style, content and methodology. We do not necessarily endorse all of these works as "very good," but did exclude stuff where we could see that it is obviously low quality.
There are many sub-topics where we struggled to find very high-quality material but we still included some publications to give interested readers a start.
We expect that most of our audience will not be able to read Chinese easily or fluently, and as such we have provided many English sources. However, it's important to remember that gaining a deep and concrete understanding of this space is really hard even with Chinese language skills and lived experience in China, so readers without those skills and experiences should be cautious about forming very strong views based on the select few sources that are included here.
Machine translation is useful but imperfect in many ways.
Machine translation will not be able to tell you the significance of specific word choice, which potentially requires deeper knowledge of what terminology means in the broader ideological context of the party-state (this is especially true for official statements and documents).
Moreover, official English versions of Chinese government documents sometimes differ from the Chinese version!
What is Lost in Translation? Differences between Chinese Foreign Policy Statements and Their Official English Translations, Mokry, 2022
China is not a monolith; sources you read that claim that 'China does X' should be treated with caution. Different actors within China have different aims and while it's true that the party-state ...