Recreating the "Oriental Woman": A Comparative Analysis of Generative AI's Portrayal and Imagination of Contemporary Chinese Female Images Based on DeepSeek, ChatGPT-4.0, and DouBao AI Painting
Journal: Arts Studies and Criticism DOI: 10.32629/asc.v6i3.4149
Abstract
With the rapid development of generative AI technology, significant potential and cultural biases have emerged in its portrayal of contemporary Chinese female images. This study focuses on three generative AI systems — DeepSeek, ChatGPT-4.0, and DouBao AI Painting — to compare how Chinese and Western AI "recreate" Oriental female imagery. Through interpretative analysis, we reveal cultural and technological limitations underlying these portrayals. Findings indicate stark differences in cultural interpretations: Chinese AI obscures "midlife crises," exoticizes bodies through male gaze, and commodifies visuals, reflecting tensions between traditional "virtuous wife/mother" roles and "modern women". In contrast, Western AI distorts Chinese female images via "partial" worldviews, atmospheric distortion, and aesthetic hegemony, reproducing cultural power imbalances. The constructed images by Chinese AI mirror postfeminist complexities, while Western AI perpetuates Orientalist tropes, revealing lingering power dynamics in global cultural representation.
Keywords
generative AI, contemporary Chinese female images, comparative analysis; cultural bias, algorithmic limitations
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