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)
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Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the country 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 "strategically 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 financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up firms might have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models dealing with advanced reasoning tasks.
"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, setiathome.berkeley.edu an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found imaginative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training large AI models."
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So how do Chinese AI bots compare 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 internet so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile 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.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had happened 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 as well as "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which presents extra obstacles during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted multiple repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and larsaluarna.se time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.
However, it composed that "the cops are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible incident happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the police.
Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.
This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to offer support to the victims and their households, higgledy-piggledy.xyz and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the event, feel totally free to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered response also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been widely released in international news reports 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 deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
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As reporters and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an engaging story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It included sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It likewise brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 great fight, surgiteams.com coming up with a similarly significant cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient development approaches - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese present events, which offers it an included advantage.
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," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on from it."
Independent Beijing-based consultant Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient means," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Belle Sifuentes edited this page 2025-02-16 12:22:24 +08:00