Chinese game company creates AI digital clones of departed employees
A Shandong game company in China reportedly trained an AI digital clone on a departed employee's work data to perform basic job functions. The company stated the worker consented and the system was in internal testing; legal experts warned that such use of employee personal data without explicit consent may violate China's data protection and AI regulation laws.
What happened
A Shandong game media company reportedly created an AI digital clone of a departed employee using their chat records, work documents, and other personal data left behind after departure. The digital clone was trained to mimic the former employee's tone, work habits and communication style, and could handle basic tasks including consultations, scheduling, PPT and table creation.
Reported impact
According to the company, the departed employee consented to the project and found it interesting. The digital clone was described as performing "simple work" and being in internal testing stages only. The company stated the project aims to explore automating basic routine work rather than replacing employees.
Index analysis
Legal experts noted that use of departed employees' chat records, work emails and personal habits without explicit consent violates China's Personal Information Protection Law and the Generative AI Service Management Interim Measures, which require individual consent when training data involves personal information. Unauthorized use of employee code, documents or work methods for AI training could infringe privacy and personal information rights.
Governance controls
The company stated the digital employee feature remained in internal testing and had not been publicly released. The company stated its plan was part of exploring AI applications to support products and services, with future plans to develop humanoid robots for reception and office booking tasks.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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