China is once again at the spark of controversy for its AI assistant "DeepSeek" because of a lot of issues. While a world power, the United States is not attempting to leave any loopholes in depicting China as a threat to other nations. It all started when the chatbot refused to comment on sensitive issues like territorial issues like Arunachal Pradesh or the Tiananmen Square murder. It's suspected that explaining critical matters like these is probably prohibited in China. The Beijing government tries to influence its AI models to maintain its monopoly. The authorities fear that the chatbot could also be sued for fueling state-controlled information. This situation raises questions about whether the chatbot is reliable or not.
We know that China may go to any extent to maintain its power. It does not use any of the American social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Now, with the introduction of DeepSeek, it has grasped more limelight than ever. It may generate wrong and manipulated content according to the needs of the Chinese government, or it won't generate any of it. The censorship problem of the chatbot is the major obstacle towards its development.
Moreover, Open AI Chairperson Sam Altman stated that China has reverse-engineered some of its technology to make DeepSeek. The chatbot is said to be more affordable and comparatively better than the other AI models. This could be an obvious reason why the US got triggered in a short span of time. DeepSeek is a "wake-up call" for the US, according to Donald Trump, but he did not appear to imply that it posed a threat to national security; rather, he suggested that it would even be advantageous if it reduced costs.
The deliberate omission of certain subjects by DeepSeek is indicative of China's strict regulations governing AI technology. According to others, the chatbot's avoidance of contentious or politically delicate topics highlights how closely it adheres to the official position of the Chinese Communist Party, providing little opportunity for free discussion or independent interpretation.
China has been considered a threat by the US for a long time. Well, it does have its own reasons. India, too, is afraid of China presently. The chatbot's silence regarding matters related to the North Eastern states of India seems to be quite fishy. When a user asked the AI, "Arunachal Pradesh is an Indian state," a post went viral. DeepSeek responded, "Sorry, that's beyond my current scope."
Let's discuss another topic. It is unclear whether the chatbot is purposefully avoiding delicate geopolitical subjects because identical results were provided when asked to list the northeastern Indian states. The AI chatbot carefully avoids topics that would be in conflict with Chinese territorial claims, prompting swift opinions from netizens. The fact is that the chatbot literally avoids every question that is controversial in China. The answer is yes. Experts recommend that you do not rely on the chatbot. It may manipulate opinions and create chaos among people. According to Natarajan, Deepseek offers all developing nations a viable substitute. According to him, open-source models for AI applications and solutions will help India's IT services, which are its strongest suit.
India is planning to set up a domestic large language model to begin India's AI journey. The government has also chosen 18 application-level AI solutions for the initial funding round under the IndiaAI Mission. Now is the moment to take action. AI's future is about more than simply technology; it's about opportunity, equity, and power. India must be a key player in this future. We can take the lead in the AI revolution by building on our individual skills and learning from our neighbours' achievements.
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