How do Chinese AI bots stack up against ChatGPT? We put them to the test
The heat is on as China's tech giants step up their game after DeepSeek's success.
Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, Chinese startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
This audio is produced by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically important" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained model to reason from brand-new data.
2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on sophisticated thinking jobs.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative ways to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training huge AI designs."
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So how do Chinese AI bots match up against ChatGPT? We put them to the test.
WHICH BEST ADDRESSES CURRENT EVENTS IN CHINA?
In China, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to stay away from domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems instead!"
To even more test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to innovative hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might likewise limit its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which presents extra difficulties during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That sought numerous duplicated four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually communicated details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.
However, it wrote that "the cops are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, systemcheck-wiki.de 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The occurrence took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.
Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
This event was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to posture the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified action also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely published in international report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As journalists and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting story set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed an excellent battle, creating a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that appeared more fit for an animation film.
"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in affordable development approaches - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its imaginative flair that produced a more interesting and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and factual actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.
"When given an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."
Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
kristanlightfo edited this page 2025-06-01 03:37:22 +00:00