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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 lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 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 surgiteams.com public financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed pledges of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller gamers like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.

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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs tackling advanced reasoning tasks.

"We might see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research study," Chen included.

AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to jobs and develop more sophisticated items beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential hurdle for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) limit the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have found innovative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge difference for training large AI designs."

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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, setiathome.berkeley.edu 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 conflicts or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to stay away from 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 math, coding, and logic problems instead!"

To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, yewiki.org Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only divulging the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually happened, highlighting instead a military air program and other events that had taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually limited access to cutting-edge 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 focus on Chinese-language data might also restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which presents extra challenges during real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.

That sought several repeated efforts - four triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on 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 classificados.diariodovale.com.br age, along with casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the authorities.

Response: The authorities reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was extensively reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The government and garagesale.es regional authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and surgiteams.com their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to posture the same question 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 questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually been commonly released in worldwide report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological transitions for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."

Opinions, however, differ.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly 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 strongly as others in creative writing," he told CNA.

Related:

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As journalists and authors, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing story embeded 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 between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably reimagined conventional 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 "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a great fight, developing an equally remarkable 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 guideline, 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 matched for an animation movie.

"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his new truth and "looking for to comprehend his function in this strange brand-new world", he then escapes and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a mission, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure 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 conclusive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in economical development techniques - and providing localised and improved results.

In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its creative flair that produced a more interesting and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate responses to questions about Chinese present events, which offers 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, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based consultant Andy Chen Xinran said would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety percent of people 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 means," Chen said.