China is at the forefront of adopting generative AI, according to a recent survey, highlighting the country’s advancements in this technology since the global debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.
In a survey conducted by U.S. AI and analytics software company SAS and Coleman Parkes Research, 83% of Chinese respondents reported using generative AI, surpassing the adoption rates of 16 other countries and regions, including the United States, where 65% indicated adoption. The global average stood at 54%.
The survey encompassed various industries such as banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, and energy. China’s dominance in generative AI is further underscored by its significant strides in patent filings, as highlighted in a recent report by the United Nations’ World Intellectual Property Organization, which recorded over 38,000 filings from China compared to 6,276 from the United States between 2014 and 2023.
Despite restrictions faced by international providers like OpenAI in China, the country has cultivated a robust domestic industry, featuring contributions from tech giants like ByteDance and startups such as Zhipu. The adoption of generative AI in Chinese enterprises is poised to accelerate, driven in part by competitive pricing among large language model services.
Additionally, the SAS report noted that China leads globally in continuous automated monitoring (CAM), a controversial application of generative AI tools used to collect and analyze extensive user data. Udo Sglavo, vice president of applied AI and modelling at SAS, cautioned that such practices could pose privacy concerns due to the opacity surrounding data collection and usage.
