After the use of ChatGPT was banned amid growing concern in Beijing about uncensored responses to user inquiries, Chinese technology companies have stepped up their efforts to enter the fast-growing AI content sector and introduce ChatGPT-style chatbots.
In light of the stark contrasts between the two sides, the artificial intelligence scene is preparing to host part of the raging battle for hegemony between China and the United States. And the restrictions imposed last October by the Biden administration on the export of advanced semiconductor chips to China, aimed in part at crippling China's artificial intelligence capabilities, were the "official" starting shot for the start of this competition.
Since Microsoft-backed ChatGPT bot and tech mogul Elon Musk took the tech world by storm with more than 100 million users in just two months, Chinese tech giants including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu have been quick to reveal their own plans to develop native ChatGPT-like services.
The competition comes at a time when China is striving to achieve the goals that set its ambitions in the 2017 plan, through which it sought to make the country a "global center for innovation" in the field of artificial intelligence by 2030, according to Foreign Policy .
artificial intelligence bots
AI bots, led by ChatGPT launched at the end of February by US-based AI research firm Open AI, have the ability to simulate human-like responses to AI-generated content prompts, assisting people with tasks such as writing articles, scripts, poetry, and drafting. Business proposals and error checking of programming codes by utilizing machine learning algorithms.
While ChatGPT, along with other bots preparing to enter the arena soon, is still a relatively new player in the search engine market, it has the potential to become a real competitor to traditional search engines such as Google and others.
Experts say that content generated by artificial intelligence and related technologies is likely to become a new engine that drives innovation in content production and frees human creators from tedious tasks, enabling them to focus on creative thinking, with huge application potential in a wide range of fields such as culture and media. Entertainment and education.
Tough competition
After the use of ChatGPT was banned by Chinese authorities amid growing concern in Beijing about uncensored responses to user inquiries, Chinese technology companies have stepped up their efforts to enter the fast-growing AI-driven content sector and introduce AI-powered chatbots along the lines of ChatGPT.
And while Baidu, the owner of China's leading search engine, said it plans to launch Ernie Bot this March, other Chinese tech giants, such as Alibaba and JD.com, have announced their own chatbots that they will launch to users soon.
For his part, Sam Howell , a researcher in technology and national security at the Center for a New American Security, pointed out that unlike the struggle for global dominance of other advanced technologies, such as 5G mobile networks, there is more at risk than pioneering technologies that can write smart texts when the demand.
“Competition for AI and emerging technology on a large scale carries consequences beyond the digital realm,” Howell added. “A country that leads in AI will reap significant economic benefits and also gain a national security advantage.
China is quantitatively and qualitatively superior
Recent studies show that China has become the undisputed champion in AI research papers, surpassing the United States in both quantity and quality.
In terms of quantity, the number of AI research papers has exploded from around 25,000 since 2012 to 135,000 in 2021 globally, with China consistently standing on top of the heap in terms of paper volume, the study showed. In 2021 alone, it produced 43,000 papers - nearly twice as many as the United States.
To assess the quality, the study examined the quality of the research through the number of papers that were in the top 10% of citations by other papers. In 2012, the United States led with 629 of these most cited papers, while China ranked second with 425 research papers.
In the following years, China made great progress and eventually overtook the United States in 2019. In 2021, China owned 7,401 of the most cited papers, 70% more than what the United States produced during the same period.
Over the past 10 years, US tech giants have dominated the AI research rankings, with Google Parent Alphabet, Microsoft and IBM as the big three producers. And while 6 American companies were in the top ten with the most cited research in 2021, 4 Chinese companies, Tencent, Alibaba, Huawei, and State Grid Corp, occupied the remaining four positions.