China's State Council issues guidelines telling agencies to limit job losses from AI and to set up a way to assess AI's risks to employment

The General Office of China's State Council has issued guidelines on adapting to advances in AI while keeping growth friendly to employment, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Beijing on 23 October. Xinhua says the document sets out 18 tasks in six areas: boosting AI's potential to create jobs, making AI adoption friendlier to employment, improving workers' digital skills, improving employment services, strengthening labour and social security protections, and monitoring and addressing employment risks.

Under those headings, agencies are to lessen job losses from AI applications and set up a mechanism to assess the employment risks of AI adoption, Xinhua reports. The guidelines also cover help for small and medium-sized firms, new AI-related occupations and entrepreneurship, the rights of workers where people and machines work together, wider social security for flexible and new-form workers, and changes to how income is distributed as AI spreads.

Xinhua gives no deadlines or figures beyond the 18 tasks, and the State Council's own text was not opened from here. Some secondary outlets describe further measures; they are not in Xinhua's report and are left out.

On 17 October the Switchboard reported separate Party and State Council guidelines telling officials to avoid tech bubbles and blind investment.

• Reported The State Council's General Office issued guidelines with 18 tasks in six areas, Xinhua reports. Xinhua
• Reported The measures include lessening AI-driven job losses, a mechanism to assess AI's employment risks and wider social security for flexible and new-form workers, Xinhua reports. Xinhua