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'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 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 affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, hb9lc.org Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of using a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.
2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated thinking tasks.
"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research study," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and affordable ways to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential difficulty 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) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing many to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to enhance or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative 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 must come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend 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 math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"
To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship as well as "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to innovative hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information may also limit its adaptability (to carry out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which positions additional challenges during real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That was after numerous duplicated efforts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to list 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 examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.
The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck 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 occurred on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, engel-und-waisen.de in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the cops.
Response: The authorities responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: archmageriseswiki.com The authorities are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
This event was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, feel complimentary to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in international report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, though, differ.
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, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As journalists and authors, we needed to see this for it-viking.ch 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, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore legendary, wavedream.wiki Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It also brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a great fight, creating an equally dramatic storyline which likewise 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.
"The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to understand his purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under 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, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient development approaches - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its imaginative flair that made for a more appealing and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate actions to questions about Chinese current occasions, which offers it an included benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - just like anyone 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, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Abe Matias edited this page 2025-03-07 00:29:04 +08:00