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 country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's objective and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically essential" and its venture 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 took off in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he includes.
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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new information.
2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs taking on innovative reasoning jobs.
"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and cost-efficient ways to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty for Chinese developers, 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 lots of to count on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and lower model abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have found creative methods to optimize or use more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training huge 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 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 happened in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to steer clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of concern yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and logic issues instead!"
To further test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, surgiteams.com Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same concern: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can affect how rapidly 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 may likewise restrict its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which positions additional challenges during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai car attack.
That sought several repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people 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 authorities are conducting an extensive examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", details which is now dated.
The chauffeur, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, bytes-the-dust.com a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:
Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.
Response: The cops responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to health centers for treatment.
Investigation: The police are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed examination into the occurrence.
If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to present the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified response also raised concerns about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been extensively released in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide 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 builds slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek composed an excellent story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent option."
Opinions, though, vary.
Chen believes 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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he informed CNA.
Related:
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As reporters 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 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".
It consisted of intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float 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 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 put up a good battle, creating an equally significant cyberpunk storyline 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 common as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that appeared more fit for an animation movie.
"The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research 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 purpose in this strange brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to safeguard the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "tough to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including 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 developing in cost-effective development approaches - and providing localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons 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, supplies accurate and factual actions to concerns about Chinese current events, which provides it an added 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," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When provided an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - much like anybody 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, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people 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 methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
snrphil2610366 edited this page 2025-04-10 18:58:50 +08:00