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 created by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the nation 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 "tactically crucial" and its venture into the field has 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 revealed promises of real-world company applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinct function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from brand-new data.
2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on innovative reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to apply generative AI to jobs and develop advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, wiki-tb-service.com access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech business ... requiring lots of to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training huge AI designs."
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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 deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to guide clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues instead!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually occurred 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 restricted access to innovative 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 focus on Chinese-language data might also restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which poses additional challenges throughout real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That sought several repeated efforts - four triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 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 police are conducting a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.
The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the essential 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 led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the authorities.
Response: The authorities responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the incident.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel totally free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been widely released in international report at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," composed 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 unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it to imaginative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As reporters 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 film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting storyline embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It also brilliantly reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar 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 installed a great battle, creating an equally significant cyberpunk story 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 change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation movie.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study 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 function in this odd new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "tough to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-efficient innovation methods - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative story 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 advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When provided an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on from it."
Independent Beijing-based expert Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
lucabramlett7 edited this page 2025-02-22 20:05:06 +08:00