Socialism is about the decentralization of power. In some popular formulations, the economy is run according to a central plan, but in one view, this is democracy. Otherwise, you are at the whim of the rich and tyrannical market forces. With central planning, you get a vote on the general direction of society, which has its possibilities encoded in the material world.

With AI you can see a stark illustration. In America, the government is captured by the rich and the AI companies. They can do whatever they want to you and you have no control. In a worker's government, the government will direct production on behalf of society so you will benefit.

China uses a capitalist mode of production, but imposes strong restrictions and ensures the benefits accrue to the people. That's democracy.

The "authoritarian" propaganda about China is primarily sermonizing against people being able to being able to choose a direction to go in. Instead, the rich are supposed to be able to do whatever they want to whomever they want. That's the American dream.