etkileşim Etkileşim 2636-7955 2636-8242 Üsküdar Üniversitesi 10.32739/etkilesim.2026.9.17.330 Communication Technology and Digital Media Studies İletişim Teknolojisi ve Dijital Medya Çalışmaları Yeni Sömürgeciliğe Direnmek: Çin ve Amerikan Büyük Dil Modellerinin Karşılaştırmalı Analizi Resisting Neo-Colonialism: A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and American Large Language Models https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1405-7115 Geray Haluk ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İLETİŞİM FAKÜLTESİ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3055-7876 Etike Şafak ANKARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ, İLETİŞİM FAKÜLTESİ 04 30 2026 17 38 68 11 10 2025 03 31 2026 Copyright © 2018, Etkileşim 2018 Etkileşim

Bu çalışma, büyük dil modellerinin yalnızca teknik araçlar değil, küresel bilgi düzeninde ideolojik işlevler üstlenen sosyo-teknik aygıtlar olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Araştırma, ABD merkezli ChatGPT ile Çin merkezli DeepSeek modellerinin Küresel Güney ülkelerinin kalkınma engellerine ilişkin sorulara verdikleri yanıtları karşılaştırmalı biçimde incelemektedir. Çalışmanın amacı, bu modellerin metinsel çıktılarında sömürgecilik mirası, kalkınma söylemleri ve epistemik eşitsizliklerin nasıl temsil edildiğini ortaya koymaktır. Yöntem olarak tematik analiz ve eleştirel söylem çözümlemesi birlikte kullanılmış, modellerin yanıtları içeriksel çeşitlilik, eleştirel derinlik ve ideolojik yönelim açısından değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular, mülkiyet yapılarının, veri ekolojilerinin ve politik-ekonomik konumlanmaların modellerin metinsel çıktılarında somutlaştığını göstermektedir. ChatGPT’nin kapalı fikri mülkiyet rejimi ve bulut tekellerine dayalı yapısı hegemonik yapıları yeniden üretirken, DeepSeek’in açık erişim ve düşük maliyetli hesaplama stratejisi yapay zekâ üretimine alternatif, maliyet odaklı bir yaklaşımı yansıtmaktadır. Araştırma, yapay zekânın Küresel Güney açısından yalnızca bir teknoloji meselesi değil, bilgi egemenliği, bağımlılık ve eşitsizlik ilişkileri bağlamında politik bir mesele olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

This study argues that large language models are not merely technical tools but socio-technical apparatuses that perform ideological functions within the global knowledge order. It comparatively examines the responses of the U.S.-based ChatGPT and the China-based DeepSeek to questions concerning the developmental obstacles faced by Global South countries. The aim is to reveal how the legacies of colonialism, developmentalist discourses, and epistemic inequalities are represented in these models' outputs. A mixed methodological design combining thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis was employed to evaluate the models’ responses in terms of content diversity, critical depth, and ideological orientation. The findings show that ownership structures, data ecologies, and political–economic positioning are concretised in the models’ textual productions. While ChatGPT’s closed intellectual property regime and reliance on cloud monopolies reproduce hegemonic structures, DeepSeek’s open-access and low-cost computational strategy reflects an alternative, cost-reduction–driven approach to AI production. Overall, the study demonstrates that artificial intelligence represents not only a technological phenomenon but also a political issue-one that is deeply intertwined with questions of knowledge sovereignty, dependency, and global inequality in the context of the Global South.

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