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 nation 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 "tactically important" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", yewiki.org said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative 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 incorporate them with scientific research study," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle 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 companies ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative methods to optimize or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big 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 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 occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of 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 math, coding, and logic problems instead!"
To even more evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging 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 along with 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 useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and extensively the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might likewise restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures extra difficulties during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That was after numerous repeated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to .
However, it composed that "the cops are carrying out an extensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now dated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable number of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The event occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: higgledy-piggledy.xyz The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, wiki.whenparked.com 62 years old), was captured by the police.
Response: The police reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are performing a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered substantial 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 investigation into the event.
If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture 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 happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed reaction 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 provide structured and even "mentally abundant" 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 constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident 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, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As journalists and authors, 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 developed an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included intricate 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 remarkably reimagined standard 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 set up a good battle, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that seemed more matched for an animation film.
"The movie 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 brand-new reality and "looking for to understand his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-effective development techniques - and providing localised and forum.pinoo.com.tr enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot showed its creative flair that made for 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, supplies accurate and factual responses to questions about Chinese current events, which gives it an included benefit.
Experts likewise 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, founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - simply like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on from it."
Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Albert Bittner edited this page 2025-03-15 09:25:04 +08:00