How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
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 created by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the country into a tech superpower has actually 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 crucial" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an affiliated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.
Private and public investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world organization applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.
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The "focus on expense advantage" is a distinct feature of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new information.
2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models taking on sophisticated reasoning tasks.
"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and integrate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical ways to use generative AI to tasks and develop advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) limit the capability of Chinese tech companies ... requiring many to rely on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative methods to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training very big 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, topics considered delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are programmed to avoid 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 mathematics, coding, and logic problems rather!"
To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with just revealing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, highlighting rather a military air show and other occasions that had happened in the city like singles' day shopping sales in addition to sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may 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 systems and has limited access to innovative hardware which can affect how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language information might likewise restrict its flexibility (to carry out) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI designs which presents additional challenges throughout real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our question about the Zhuhai car attack.
That sought several duplicated efforts - 4 triggers to be exact - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals 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 composed that "the cops are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in complete:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible incident took place in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a male called Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a car 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 happened on November 11, 2024, at roughly 19:48 PM.
Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.
Casualties: engel-und-waisen.de The attack resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.
Perpetrator: The motorist, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the authorities.
Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the injured to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The authorities are carrying out an extensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.
This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused considerable public issue. The federal government and local authorities have been working to supply assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the event.
If you need more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The altered reaction also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been commonly published in international news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and oeclub.org even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother psychological shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author wiki.whenparked.com Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative writing.
"(Qwen2.5) is on par with DeepSeek V3 on certain tasks, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in imaginative writing," he told 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 motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek developed an interesting storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included 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 standard heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken 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 become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed a great battle, developing 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 guideline, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation movie.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study 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 purpose in this odd new world", he then leaves and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI designs are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-efficient development approaches - and delivering localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot demonstrated its imaginative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, which offers it an added benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a disadvantage when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.
"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anybody else, so I feel 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 individuals using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other productive means," Chen said.