Man Who Used AI to Write Fake News Story Arrested for ‘Provoking Trouble’

A man in China was arrested for allegedly using ChatGPT to write fake news and charged for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," a common catch-all charge in the authoritarian country.

Police in the Gansu province of China said the man, identified only as Hong, was detained for “using artificial intelligence technology to concoct false and untrue information,” according to the South China Morning Post.

Hong reportedly used ChatGPT, which is only available in China through use of a VPN, to generate a false news article claiming nine people had died in a local train accident, Futurism reported. The story, and multiple versions of it, spread on the Chinese social news network Baijihao.

A new Chinese law that took effect at the start of the year, called the The Administrative Provisions on Deep Synthesis for Internet Information Service, requires videos, photos and content made with AI to be clearly labeled as such.

Only government-approved news sites are allowed to use AI to write content, and that content must adhere to the "correct political direction and correct public opinion orientation,” according to Futurism.

If prosecuted, Hong could face five to ten years in prison.