This seminar explores how China’s human-centric AI challenges Western ideals, reflecting its authoritarian governance and Confucian values of order and collective well-being.
As AI reshapes the world, China is forging its own vision of ‘human-centric’ technology, which is grounded not primarily in liberal democratic values of rights and privacy, but in its authoritarian state capitalist model and enduring Confucian values, which continue to shape Chinese society despite communism and rapid economic change.
The seminar examines how China’s approach to AI, reflecting these distinctive cultural values and regulatory norms, challenges Western assumptions about technology and ethics. Drawing on real-world examples, the seminar explores how AI in China is designed not merely for efficiency, but to serve collectivist goals of social cohesion, optimisation, and moral governance — with a focus on group well-being and perceived harmony over individual autonomy.
About the speaker
Alvin Hung is a postdoctoral research fellow at the ANU Law School. His research bridges law, technology, and society, with a focus on emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. He primarily takes a socio-legal and comparative approach to examine how the dynamics of law and technology differs across societies, and how these dynamics reflects underlying ideologies and power structures. His work also engages with private law and the humanities broadly, exploring the cultural dimensions of law in the Asia-Pacific.
COVID protocols
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This seminar presentation is a dual-delivery event. Registration is not required for in-person attendance as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing.
If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email regnet.communications@anu.edu.au.
Image credit: AI generated image of statue of Confucius wearing spectacles, using a smartphone, by Studium L&M, from Adobe Stock, used under Educational Licence. AI was used to convert image from portrait to landscape orientation.