China has moved to tackle one of the messiest parts of the AI boom: fake people. The country’s top internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, has published draft rules that would force companies to clearly label AI-generated “digital humans” and ban certain uses that could harm children, enable deception, or blur the line between real and artificial identities. The plan is to make it harder for AI personalities to pass as real people online.
The draft regulations, now open for public comment until May 6, require any service using human-like AI characters to display a prominent “digital human” label alongside the content at all times. That means virtual presenters, AI companions, influencers, customer service avatars, and any interactive AI persona must be clearly identified as synthetic. It’s a direct response to the explosion of AI deepfakes and virtual personalities that can easily be mistaken for real humans, especially as generative AI tools become more advanced and accessible.
David Adubiina
But the rules go further than just labeling. They would prohibit anyone from creating a digital human that resembles a real person without that person’s explicit consent, especially if it involves sensitive personal data. In other words, no more quietly training an AI model to look and sound like someone without their knowledge.
The draft also bans using digital humans to bypass identity verification systems, closing a loophole that could enable fraud or impersonation.
Subscribe for free to continue reading this article
Subscribe SubscribeAlready Have an Account? Log In
