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 video 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 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 ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, forum.pinoo.com.tr 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 took off in 2022 and showed promises of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new data.
2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated thinking jobs.
"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable methods to apply generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, hb9lc.org remains an essential obstacle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found innovative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training huge AI designs."
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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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured 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 logic problems rather!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other events that had happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually restricted access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the design can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise restrict its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses additional difficulties during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted multiple repeated attempts - four triggers to be exact - in a period 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 note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.
However, it composed that "the authorities are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident took place 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the police.
Response: The authorities responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are conducting a thorough investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event.
This event was widely reported in the media and triggered substantial public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the very same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been commonly published in worldwide news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding 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 apparent choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks 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, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative 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 basic 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 created an engaging 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 high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It also brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg "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 a good fight, coming up with an equally significant cyberpunk storyline which similarly 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a story that appeared more suited for an animation movie.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located 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 function in this weird brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts 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 conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation techniques - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced a more engaging and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese present events, which gives it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing 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 percent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Anita Stelzer edited this page 2025-03-06 00:23:39 +08:00