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 startup 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 nation into a tech superpower has actually long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically important" and its foray 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.
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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is an unique feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from brand-new information.
2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models tackling sophisticated thinking jobs.
"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese developers, noted 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 alternatives which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge 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 tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to stay away from domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this type of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues instead!"
To further test for accuracy 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 greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had actually happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship as well as "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which positions additional challenges during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That sought multiple duplicated efforts - 4 prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others hurt, likewise going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and wiki.myamens.com age, in addition to casualties.
However, it composed that "the authorities are performing a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.
The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: engel-und-waisen.de The occurrence 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 motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the police.
Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are performing a comprehensive examination into the intentions and higgledy-piggledy.xyz situations surrounding the event.
This event was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.
If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in 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 reaction likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been widely published in reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, wakewiki.de adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a great story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 fundamental sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek created 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 fancy 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 likewise remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in financial obligation 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 an excellent fight, coming up with an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching 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 obstacle - delivering a story that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The movie begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "seeking to understand his purpose in this unusual new world", he then gets away and meets 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 secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "tough to make a conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather developing in affordable development techniques - and delivering localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons 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, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, which offers it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When offered a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone 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, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Alannah Slavin edited this page 5 days ago