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: surgiteams.com 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 objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically essential" and its foray 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed promises of applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's increase that actually "urged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of using a trained model to reason from new information.
2025 might likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI companies concentrating on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical ways to apply generative AI to tasks and develop more sophisticated products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains an essential hurdle 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 capability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and decrease design capabilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative methods to enhance or use more standard hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge difference for training large 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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic problems rather!"
To even more test for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had happened, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had actually taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as 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 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 rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also restrict its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which poses additional difficulties during real-world implementation."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That was after numerous repeated efforts - four triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left lots of others injured, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, along with casualties.
However, it wrote that "the authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now outdated.
The motorist, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a guy called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the key 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 led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the hurt to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are carrying out an extensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the event.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have particular concerns about the event, feel complimentary to ask.
Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to present the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The modified response likewise raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely published in global news reports at the time of the mishap - so no 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 offered a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected 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 substantial twist".
"DeepSeek composed a great story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident option."
Opinions, though, vary.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 creative 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 set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included fancy settings - smoggy skies "pierced by high-rise buildings", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".
It also brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub 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 set up an excellent fight, creating an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation film.
"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research study facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "looking for to comprehend his function in this unusual brand-new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a mission, 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 "challenging to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just replicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable innovation methods - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own unique strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that made for a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and factual actions to questions about Chinese current events, which provides it an included advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study company Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - much like anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing 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 individuals using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
Ahmed Ingle edited this page 2025-04-03 13:13:22 +07:00