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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has 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 "strategically essential" and its foray 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he includes.
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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the expenses of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.
2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs taking on innovative reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, archmageriseswiki.com 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 ... requiring numerous 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 ways to optimize or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training huge AI designs."
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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 delicate by the state are censored on the web so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"
To even more evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually occurred in the city like singles' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it may 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 affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also restrict its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which positions extra difficulties during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai cars and larsaluarna.se truck attack.
That sought several repeated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots 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 authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and setiathome.berkeley.edu terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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 chauffeur, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.
Response: The cops responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to the hurt to health centers for larsaluarna.se treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, feel complimentary to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to present the same concern 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 modified reaction likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly published in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - so not a 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 reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech author trademarketclassifieds.com Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek composed an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but 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 writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an engaging story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of 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 also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and 89u89.com Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good fight, coming up with an equally significant cyberpunk storyline which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous 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 misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation film.
"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this odd brand-new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each struggling with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "challenging to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just reproducing Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable innovation methods - and delivering localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more interesting 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 reactions to concerns about Chinese present occasions, which gives it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts 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 firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like 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, especially for wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
merleedmondsto edited this page 2025-04-09 20:10:57 +08:00