Le Cheng’s research while affiliated with Zhejiang University and other places

Using bibliometric methods, this study systematically analyzes 6,084 AI ethics-related articles from the Web of Science Core Collection (2015–2025), capturing both recent advances and near-future directions in the field. It begins by examining publication trends, disciplinary categories, leading journals, and major contributing institutions/countries. Subsequently, co-citation (journals, authors, references) and keyword clustering methods reveal the foundational knowledge structure and highlight emerging research hotspots. The findings indicate increasing interdisciplinary convergence and international collaboration in AI ethics, with core themes focusing on algorithmic fairness, privacy and data security, ethical governance in autonomous vehicles, medical AI applications, educational technology, and challenges posed by generative AI (e.g., large language models). Burst keyword detection further shows an evolutionary shift from theoretical debates toward practical implementation strategies and regulatory framework development. Although numerous global initiatives have been introduced to guide AI ethics, broad consensus remains elusive, underscoring the need for enhanced cross-disciplinary and international cooperation. This research provides valuable insights for scholars, policymakers, and industry practitioners, laying a foundation for sustainable and responsible AI development.

Based on a self-built corpus of Chinese cybersecurity legislation, this study explores the construction of China’s official cybersecurity discourse via deconstructing cybersecurity legislation from the perspective of system theory. Analysis focusing on the internal features of the discourse obtains the themes, actors, and legal relations in China’s cybersecurity legislation. Among four pairs of legal relations, system theory provides an explanation for the tension between public-private legal relationship and private-private legal relationship, that is, whether the legislative system chooses to delegate network operators with administrative function depends on how the system perceives the nature of cybersecurity issues and integrate new issues into securitization process. Furthermore, the external features of legislation discourse reveal the changes in the number of all levels of cybersecurity legislation. It is found that the coupling resonance of the political system and the legal system promotes the development of relevant legislation, and facilitates the self-development legislation system to transfer from diversified legislation to unified legislation.