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 actually 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 venture into the field has 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 guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "encouraged" the idea that smaller players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is an unique function of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and higgledy-piggledy.xyz inference costs - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new information.
2025 could also see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with sophisticated reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective ways to use generative AI to tasks and establish advanced items beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese developers, wavedream.wiki noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design capabilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually discovered creative methods to enhance or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training huge 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, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it ought 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 configured to avoid 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 mathematics, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"
To further evaluate for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually occurred, highlighting instead a military air program and other occasions that had happened in the city like songs' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to innovative hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might also limit its versatility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which postures extra difficulties during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai car attack.
That wanted multiple duplicated efforts - four triggers to be accurate - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, 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 wrote that "the authorities are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.
The driver, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's response in complete:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident occurred 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 driver, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.
Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to medical facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the event.
This event was widely reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the occurrence.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent efforts to position the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered reaction likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been widely released in international report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more reflective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from interest to urgency, 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, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story however did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
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 highly as others in imaginative writing," he told CNA.
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As reporters and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a standard sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an appealing storyline embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It consisted of intricate 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 "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat 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 become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good fight, developing a similarly dramatic cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each mirroring the famous figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a story that appeared more suited for an animation film.
"The movie 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 "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this unusual new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "tough to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not merely reproducing Western paradigms, but rather evolving in cost-effective development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its innovative 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 precise and factual actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which gives it an added benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - just like anyone else, so I feel 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 trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're using it for other productive ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
geraldinecochr edited this page 2025-02-07 05:39:49 +08:00