Large Language Models as a Conduit for Value Shifts in Contemporary China

• In Event: Science, Knowledge & Technology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: AI and Changing Social Norms

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a socio-technical system, has been found to shape the socialization of human users by structuring how they acquire information, form judgments, and develop social values. Existing studies show that AI exhibits distinctive socio-cultural stances, yet its position within the Chinese value landscape and its potential influence on Chinese residents remain underexplored. In this paper, we draw on technical script theory from STS and conceptualize AI systems as carriers of implicit technical scripts, embodying underlying socio-cultural assumptions, imaginations, and expectations. Through two related studies, including an AI prediction task and one persuasion experiment, we show that AI agents, whether developed by U.S. or Chinese companies, tend to embody values more aligned with liberalism and postmaterialism than those of most Chinese residents, as indicated by empirical data from the 2021 CGSS. These values shape how AI presents reality and interacts with users, potentially influencing users’ memories, cognition, and attitudes toward various moral claims. Our work contributes to technical script theory and the critical study of AI, while also pointing to a potential socio-cultural transformation driven by AI technologies in China.

Authors

• Likun Cao, Purdue University

• Lianghao Dai, Zhejiang University