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To be the Global Gateways: An Empirical Study on the Infrastructuralization of Large Language Models from the Access Perspective
HUANG Yangkun, ZHU Hongyu, CHEN Changfeng
Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2025, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6) : 137-158.
PDF(1875 KB)
PDF(1875 KB)
To be the Global Gateways: An Empirical Study on the Infrastructuralization of Large Language Models from the Access Perspective
This paper empirically explores the access of large language models (LLMs) on a global scale, to examine their infrastructuralization and dilemmas towards general AI. Drawing upon the basic idea of connectivity from communication and media studies, and adopting “gateway” as the core concept of infrastructure, this study employs computer network experiments as the primary method and utilizes indicators including packet loss, latency, and jitter to examine the global access conditions including accessibility, speed, stability of LLMs as new digital infrastructure along with the potential inequality issues behind them. Through conducting nearly 200,000 network probes across 62 global network nodes, this study finds that compared to city nodes in the Global North, city nodes in the Global South generally exhibit a disadvantage in terms of accessibility, especially when accessing LLMs produced in Western countries. Furthermore, some LLMs have significantly surpassed “old-type” information infrastructures like search engines and databases in terms of accessibility and speed, with nodes in the Global South accessing LLMs notably faster than databases. However, LLMs have not yet demonstrated a significant superiority in stability over previous-generation information infrastructures. Although the emergence of LLMs metaphorically signifies a primary stage of global information exchange and human-machine interactions, it is still imperative to address and resolve geopolitical conflicts within connectivity. Addressing the factors like access, usability, stability, universalisation and value will be crucial for LLMs to realize their full potential and evolve into global gateways.
Large language model / accessibility / gateway / infrastructuralization / digital access divide
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1. 丢包的成因复杂，包括防火墙或交换机阻断、网络线缆故障、软件程序出错、网络拥堵等，但丢包导致的直接可见后果即信息基础设施的访问受阻。
2. 这一设定受宽带发展联盟进行的“中国宽带速率状况”调查启发。因用户上网有相对明确的高峰和非高峰时段，一天四次基本可覆盖网络使用的忙时（常取19时至23时）和闲时（常取1时至6时），进而降低了忙闲时对研究结果的混淆和干扰。
3. PLR的分母不完全一致，即因为这些节点在对相关大模型进行拨测实验时，出现了“数据声明”中所言的情况：网络环境问题造成部分城市网络节点Ping拨测失败，出现了数据缺失。
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