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 startup 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 lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually 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 important" 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and pediascape.science showed promises of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese firm DeepSeek's AI model as impactful as it claims?
Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI business simply altered the guidelines of tech-geopolitics
The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference costs - the expenses of utilizing a trained model to reason from brand-new information.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling 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 designs and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, experts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient methods to use generative AI to tasks and establish more advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty 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 ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to optimize or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a big distinction for training really big AI designs."
DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it anticipates business to comply with its laws
US looking into whether DeepSeek utilized limited AI chips obtained through other countries, source says
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, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid 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 further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had actually happened, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually happened 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 elements at play, such as censorship as well as "a few practical constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how rapidly 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 restrict its adaptability (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which presents additional challenges during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That was after several duplicated attempts - four prompts to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 people and left dozens of others injured, archmageriseswiki.com also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.
However, it composed that "the authorities are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now dated.
The driver, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous 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 substantial number of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The incident took place 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 motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the authorities.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the hurt to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are conducting a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident.
This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have actually been working to provide support to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the event.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, feel totally free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified response also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been commonly published 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 abundant" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that builds slowly from curiosity to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story however lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
China's brand-new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?
'Made in China': Pride, pleasant surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks global AI scene
As reporters and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It consisted of fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled between quantum server farms".
It also remarkably reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle 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 end up being waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good fight, developing a similarly dramatic 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a story that seemed more matched for an animation movie.
"The movie 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 comprehend his function in this unusual new world", he then leaves and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into 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 showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable development techniques - and providing localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more appealing and creative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, wiki.dulovic.tech unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which gives it an included 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 CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When given an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just 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, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of people using the tool are not attempting to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient methods," Chen said.
1
How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Angel Borden edited this page 2025-02-07 17:31:20 +08:00