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 game after DeepSeek's success.
Alibaba's Qwen2.5-Max chatbot, wiki.myamens.com Chinese startup DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT. (Photos: Reuters/Dado Ruvic, AFP/Sebastien Bozon)
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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 objective and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.
China views AI as being "strategically important" and its venture into the field has actually 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 sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world service applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research and developments, he includes.
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The "emphasis on expense advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new information.
2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate 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 quickly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and affordable ways to use generative AI to jobs and establish more 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, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing many to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize design capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative ways to optimize or utilize more fundamental hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a big distinction for training large 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 considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests suggest Chinese chatbots are set to guide clear of 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 math, coding, and logic problems instead!"
To even more check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had occurred, highlighting instead a military air show and other occasions that had actually occurred 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 elements at play, such as censorship along with "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may also limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which poses additional difficulties during real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai automobile attack.
That wanted several repeated attempts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 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, as well as casualties.
However, it composed that "the police are performing an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", details which is now dated.
The motorist, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in complete:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to multiple news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The incident occurred on November 11, 2024, at around 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, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was captured by the police.
Response: The police responded quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.
This event was widely reported in the media and caused significant public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the occurrence.
If you need more detailed details or have particular questions about the event, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to posture the same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been commonly released in worldwide news reports at the time of the mishap - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that develops gradually from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story but lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, though, differ.
Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to imaginative 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 creative writing," he told CNA.
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As journalists and authors, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek created an engaging storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included intricate 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 also remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 installed an excellent battle, developing 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - delivering a story that appeared more fit for an animation movie.
"The film starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research study center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new reality and "seeking to comprehend his function in this weird brand-new world", he then escapes and satisfies 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 sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "hard 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 highlights how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical development techniques - and providing localised and improved results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi motion picture plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, by Chinese censorship constraints, offers precise and accurate responses to questions about Chinese current events, which provides it an included benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - much like anyone else, so I feel 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, 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 efficient methods," Chen said.