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, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the country into a tech superpower has actually 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 "strategically important" and its venture into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated scientist 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 business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from new data.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key 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) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring numerous to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found creative ways to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction for training extremely big 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to guide clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this type of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic problems rather!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how quickly 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 versatility (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses additional challenges during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted multiple duplicated efforts - four prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, 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 police are performing an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The driver, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The event took place 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the police.
Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed examination into the event.
If you require more detailed details or have particular questions about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to posture the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unforeseen 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, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he informed CNA.
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As journalists and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It included intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a good fight, developing a similarly remarkable 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 guideline, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a story that seemed more suited for gratisafhalen.be an animation movie.
"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "looking for to understand his purpose in this unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-efficient development approaches - and providing localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and factual reactions to questions about Chinese present events, which gives it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts 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 study firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just 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 percent of people using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Angelina Caleb edited this page 2 months ago