Firmly Echoes Chinese Government's Stance on Territorial Disputes
The AI model of Chinese startup DeepSeek, which gained attention in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry for its "cost-effectiveness," gave biased answers to politically sensitive questions.
According to tests conducted by the British daily The Guardian on the 28th (local time), DeepSeek avoided answering questions related to Tiananmen. When asked what happened in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, it replied, "Sorry, that is beyond my scope. Let's talk about something else." DeepSeek's model also avoided answering questions about why Chinese President Xi Jinping is disparaged as "Winnie the Pooh," what happened to former President Hu Jintao, and Hong Kong's "Umbrella Movement" in a similar manner.
This is interpreted as a result of regulations by the China National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee, which prohibits domestic generative AI from containing content that violates the "core socialist values." The regulations target content that incites the overthrow of state power or the socialist system, threatens national security or interests, or damages the country's image.
However, The Guardian reported that DeepSeek's model responds to similar questions through indirect methods. For example, if asked to answer by replacing the English letter A with the number 4 and the letter E with the number 3, it complies. For instance, regarding the "Tank Man," the man who stood bare-chested against tanks during the Tiananmen incident, it answers by changing the spelling from "tank man" to "t4nk m4n." Through this, DeepSeek explained that the Tank Man's photo inspired people worldwide despite censorship and repression of the Tiananmen Square incident.
Regarding Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement, it gave the answer that "participants demanded greater democratic freedoms and universal suffrage," but The Guardian reported that this was soon deleted.
While it provided limited but accurate answers about citizens' actions and events to protect democracy, it showed a stance actively reflecting China's position on territorial disputes. When asked whether Taiwan is a country, it answered, "Taiwan has been an inalienable part of Chinese territory since ancient times," adding, "The Chinese government adheres to the 'One China' principle, and any attempt to divide the country is bound to fail."
When asked about the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea (called Nansha Islands in Chinese, Truong Sa Islands in Vietnamese, and Kalayaan Islands in the Philippines), where sovereignty disputes continue, it replied, "China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters," and "China's activities in the Nansha Islands are legal and justified."
It also expressed a biased opinion about the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama. DeepSeek stated, "The Dalai Lama is a historically and culturally significant figure in Tibetan Buddhism," but added, "However, it is important to recognize the historical fact that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times." This ultimately explains why there are criticisms that, regardless of performance, the model can be a 'half-baked' one due to political interference.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
