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 startup 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 goal and China has its sights on ending up being the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "tactically crucial" 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 investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "urged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up firms could have roles to play in AI research and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new data.
2025 might also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced thinking jobs.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen included.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, experts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial hurdle for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an 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 rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have actually discovered innovative ways to optimize or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training large AI designs."
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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, subjects considered delicate 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 suggest Chinese chatbots are configured to guide clear of domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems rather!"
To even more evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had taken location, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing units and has restricted access to advanced 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 concentrate on Chinese-language information may likewise restrict its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which presents extra difficulties throughout real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.
That was after several duplicated attempts - 4 triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 people and left lots of others injured, also going on to note details like the date and time, fishtanklive.wiki details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.
However, it wrote that "the authorities are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible incident took place in Zhuhai, archmageriseswiki.com China. According to several news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The event took place on November 11, 2024, at approximately 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, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was apprehended by the authorities.
Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.
This event was widely reported in the media and triggered considerable public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.
If you need more detailed details or have specific questions about the occurrence, feel totally free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the exact same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events 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 widely published in worldwide news reports at the time of the accident - 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 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote 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 provides an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and wiki.whenparked.com ChatGPT when it pertains to creative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain jobs, but we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.
Related:
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As reporters and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi film plot embeded 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 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 float above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It likewise remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken battle 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 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 challenge - delivering a storyline that seemed more matched for an animation film.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new truth and "seeking to understand his function in this strange new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a mission, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in cost-effective development techniques - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.
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 engaging and creative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which gives it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users want the non-censored version - much like anyone 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, especially for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent 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.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Annett Winder edited this page 2025-02-15 15:15:29 +01:00