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 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 becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new data.
2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs taking on sophisticated reasoning 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 incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential obstacle for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... forcing lots of to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce design abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training extremely 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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what occurred 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 type of concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"
To further test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium 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 actually occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had taken place in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may 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 units and has actually restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact 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 likewise restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which presents extra obstacles throughout real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai automobile attack.
That wanted multiple duplicated efforts - four prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals 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, along with casualties.
However, surgiteams.com it wrote that "the authorities are carrying out a thorough investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.
The driver, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action completely:
Answer: disgaeawiki.info On Nov 11, 2024, a major wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The occurrence occurred 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 motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the cops.
Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.
This event was widely reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to supply assistance to the victims and their households, setiathome.berkeley.edu and to make sure a detailed examination into the event.
If you require more detailed details or have particular questions about the occurrence, feel free to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the exact 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 transformed response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly published in global news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional transitions 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 offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
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As reporters 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 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 engaging story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included elaborate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift 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 "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a good fight, developing a similarly 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 typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this obstacle - delivering a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation film.
"The motion picture 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 brand-new truth and "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this weird new world", he then gets away and fulfills 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 secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "tough to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not simply replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in methods - and providing localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an added advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas 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 wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - just like anybody else, so I seem like that's a piece missing from it."
Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of individuals using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
elmolittlefiel edited this page 2025-02-20 13:09:29 +08:00