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 start-up DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, wavedream.wiki 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 nation into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically important" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.
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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new information.
2025 might likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs taking on sophisticated thinking tasks.
"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable methods to use generative AI to tasks and develop more innovative items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, 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 lots of to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative methods to enhance or use more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big difference for training large AI models."
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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 deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to steer clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"
To further evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also restrict its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which positions extra challenges during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That was after multiple repeated efforts - four triggers to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals 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, along with casualties.
However, it wrote that "the cops are conducting a thorough investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.
The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the authorities.
Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the event.
This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to supply support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the event.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been extensively released in global report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.
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As reporters and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It likewise remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good fight, developing a similarly significant cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation film.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this odd new world", he then escapes and Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-effective development methods - and providing localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, which provides it an included advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anybody 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, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
jefferyeckert edited this page 2025-05-29 01:24:23 +08:00