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 produced by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags 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 ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically important" 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the concept that smaller sized gamers like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research study and advancements, he adds.
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The "focus on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from brand-new data.
2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on sophisticated thinking jobs.
"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general 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 abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains an essential difficulty for Chinese designers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring numerous to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative ways to enhance or use more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training huge AI models."
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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, topics deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or tell you what happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend 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 question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems instead!"
To even more evaluate for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually taken location, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to 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 new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI models which positions extra difficulties throughout real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our concern about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That sought numerous duplicated efforts - four triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, also going on to note details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, in addition to casualties.
However, it composed that "the cops are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.
The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful incident occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The incident happened 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was captured by the authorities.
Response: The authorities reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and triggered significant public issue. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified action likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been extensively released 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 "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used 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 builds gradually from interest to seriousness, 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, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more significant twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a great story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, though, vary.
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 jobs, but we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he informed CNA.
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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 fundamental sci-fi movie plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, setiathome.berkeley.edu DeepSeek created an appealing storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It included fancy 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 conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 put up an excellent fight, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which likewise reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the legendary 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 - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation movie.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "seeking to understand his purpose in this odd new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing 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 "tough to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable development approaches - and providing localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its imaginative 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, provides accurate and factual actions to questions about Chinese present occasions, which provides it an .
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 company Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - simply like anybody else, so I seem 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, particularly for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
ihumadeleine00 edited this page 2025-04-08 05:39:49 +08:00