As generative artificial intelligence technology is expected to be quickly applied to various industries, greater efforts are required to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI, especially given the rising priority accorded to data security governance, participants at the ongoing 2024 Zhongguancun Forum said.

With the rapid development of AI, data security has gained in prominence as data serve not only as the basis for AI, but also as a core resource in the era of the digital economy, Guo Yike, a data scientist and the provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said.

Guo stressed on the significance of safeguarding data and protecting personal privacy.

He called for efforts to strengthen international cooperation and exchanges, and to jointly explore the best practices of data security governance.

According to Guo, there must be a greater push to establish an international institutional framework and regulations to regulate data security, while protecting privacy and sensitive information.

Moreover, cutting-edge innovative technologies, including blockchain and encryption, can be utilized to improve data security, and bolster the fair, responsible and transparent application of AI, he added.

Guo said several countries have adopted a cautious attitude toward formulating relevant regulations on AI, avoiding excessive restrictions on its development, while attaching great importance to data security governance.

Chinese authorities issued a 24-point guideline for managing generative AI services in August. The country encourages the innovative development of generative AI and supervises the technology using methods compatible with innovation and development.

These measures support use of the technology in various fields to produce positive and high-quality content, and encourage the independent innovation of basic technologies, including generative AI algorithms, frameworks, chips and software platforms.

As a new type of production factor, data has become a key engine for promoting the development of a digital economy, said Shen Changxiang, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Shen said there is an urgent need to establish a safe and credible data supervision and security system, so as to protect data on all fronts.

"New cybersecurity challenges and leakage of personal data have popped up with the rapid development and application of new technologies," said Qi Xiangdong, chairman of cybersecurity company Qi-Anxin Technology Group.

AI has greatly lowered the threshold of cyberattacks, Qi said.

Noting that cybersecurity and AI are inextricably linked, Qi said AI will be widely used in the cybersecurity field and will inject fresh impetus into the data security industry that is facing rising threats.

According to him, the company has rolled out an industry-level AI-powered large language model to ensure the safe operations of networks, enhance cybersecurity response capabilities and fend off potential cyberattacks.

Data security, he said, is more important than ever, and he called for enhanced efforts to deal with new data security problems.

China aims to increase the size of its data security market to over 150 billion yuan ($20.7 billion) by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 30 percent, according to a government guideline.

The country has also introduced 20 key measures aimed at establishing basic systems for data and putting data resources to better use. The basic systems will involve the establishment of a data property rights system, a circulation and trading system, a revenue distribution system and a security governance system.