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 video 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 produced 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 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 scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained design to reason from brand-new data.
2025 could also see the development of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective ways to apply generative AI to jobs and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, larsaluarna.se access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech business ... forcing numerous to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually found imaginative methods to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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, subjects deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set 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 evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken location, wiki.whenparked.com highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to innovative hardware which can impact how quickly and extensively the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which presents extra challenges throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted numerous duplicated efforts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, archmageriseswiki.com details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.
However, it wrote that "the cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.
The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, hb9lc.org 2024, a major and tragic event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, bytes-the-dust.com leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The incident happened on November 11, wiki.whenparked.com 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou of Zhuhai.
Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The chauffeur, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the police.
Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered considerable public issue. The government and regional authorities have been working to supply support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the exact same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely released in international report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
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As journalists and authors, we needed 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 legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of fancy 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 traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT put up a good fight, creating an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the legendary figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - providing a story that appeared more suited for an animation film.
"The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study center located 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 unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-effective innovation methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that made for a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which offers it an added advantage.
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 firm Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - simply like anyone else, so I seem 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, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Angeline Therry edited this page 5 days ago