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 created by an AI tool.
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 essential" and its venture 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 took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller players like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research study and developments, he includes.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is an unique function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.
2025 might likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs taking on advanced thinking jobs.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with clinical research," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, trademarketclassifieds.com especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, kept in mind 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 companies ... requiring numerous to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced 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, topics considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell 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 type of question yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems rather!"
To further evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had actually taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may likewise restrict its versatility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI models which positions additional obstacles during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That sought multiple duplicated attempts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.
However, it wrote that "the cops are carrying out an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the police.
Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the incident.
This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to supply 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 incident, feel totally free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered action likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been widely published in international report 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 deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided 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 vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks 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, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
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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 basic sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, 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 merges with quantum computing".
It included intricate 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 also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation movie.
"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this odd new world", he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under 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 areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development approaches - and providing localised and enhanced outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that produced a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual reactions to questions about Chinese current events, which gives it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anybody else, so I seem 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, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Aiden Winifred edited this page 2025-04-07 23:36:24 +08:00