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 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 goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically essential" and its foray into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated researcher 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 revealed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from brand-new information.
2025 might likewise see the development of more Chinese AI models tackling innovative thinking tasks.
"We might see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models 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 rapidly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered creative ways to optimize or use more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big difference for training large 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, topics 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 disputes or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues rather!"
To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken location, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had actually taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as "a few practical constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might likewise restrict its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which poses extra obstacles during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That wanted multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals 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 age, along with casualties.
However, it composed that "the cops are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the event", details which is now outdated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the essential 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: systemcheck-wiki.de The driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the police.
Response: The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.
This event was commonly reported in the media and triggered substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have been working to supply support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel totally free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been widely published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions 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 offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, pipewiki.org however, differ.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As journalists and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi film plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing story set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines 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 in between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club owner "drowning in debt 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 battle, coming up with an equally dramatic cyberpunk story 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 in this obstacle - delivering a storyline that seemed more suited for an animation movie.
"The film 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 brand-new truth and "looking for to understand his purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "difficult to make a definitive declaration" 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 highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in affordable innovation approaches - and providing localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its creative flair that produced a more interesting and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and factual actions to questions about Chinese present events, which gives it an added benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing out on 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 percent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
jeramyharry94 edited this page 2025-02-21 10:17:49 +00:00