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 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 country into a tech superpower has 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 essential" and its foray 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 accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research and advancements, 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 utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new information.
2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced thinking tasks.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research," Chen included.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to use generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative 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 capability of Chinese tech business ... requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge 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 should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to steer clear of 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 logic problems instead!"
To further test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports stadium 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 point out that an attack had actually taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as "a few practical 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 design can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also limit its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which positions additional difficulties throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That was after multiple duplicated efforts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to list details like the date and time, wiki.dulovic.tech 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 circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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 driver, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the event.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The government and local authorities have been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to make sure a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the event, feel complimentary to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture the same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered reaction likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more introspective 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 slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a great story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly 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 innovative writing," he told CNA.
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As reporters 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 film plot set 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 interesting story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included intricate 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 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 put up a good fight, developing an equally dramatic cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this weird brand-new world", wiki.dulovic.tech he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, navigating 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 "tough to make a definitive 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 underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-effective development techniques - and providing localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that produced a more interesting and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, wiki.snooze-hotelsoftware.de unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate reactions to concerns about Chinese existing events, which provides it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - similar to 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, specifically 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 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?
Annis Mitchell edited this page 2025-02-16 19:37:15 +08:00