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 generated 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 "tactically crucial" and its venture into the field has 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 financial investments in Chinese AI accelerated after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller sized gamers like start-up companies might have functions to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.
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The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new information.
2025 might also see the development of more Chinese AI designs dealing with advanced reasoning jobs.
"We could see some AI firms focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete methods to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research study," Chen added.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own ingenious and economical methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the other hand, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a key hurdle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate professor at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing numerous to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize design abilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered creative methods to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training huge 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, topics deemed delicate by the state are censored on the web so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or tell you what took place 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 issues rather!"
To even more check for precision and self-censorship, ratemywifey.com we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the exact same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The car attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities only revealing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales along with sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang believes that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".
"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has restricted access to cutting-edge hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the design can be trained or updated," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its adaptability (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the exact same scale as more established AI designs which poses extra difficulties during real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly addressed our concern about the Zhuhai vehicle attack.
That was after multiple duplicated attempts - 4 prompts to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others hurt, 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 composed that "the authorities are conducting a comprehensive examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the event", details which is now obsoleted.
The chauffeur, Fan, was executed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and terrible event happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a guy named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The occurrence happened on November 11, 2024, at around 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, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), bytes-the-dust.com was captured by the police.
Response: The police responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The police are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the event.
This event was commonly reported in the media and caused significant public issue. The government and local authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their families, surgiteams.com and to ensure a detailed investigation into the event.
If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary 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 took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had been widely released in international report at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE ?
Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.
"DeepSeek-R1 used a story with a more reflective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," wrote tech author Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 provided a story that constructs slowly from interest to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more substantial twist".
"DeepSeek composed a good story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."
Opinions, though, differ.
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, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.
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As journalists and writers, we needed to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek came up with an appealing storyline set in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges 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 between quantum server farms".
It also brilliantly reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a taken combat 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 put up an excellent fight, developing a similarly remarkable cyberpunk storyline 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.
"The motion picture begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his new reality and "looking for to comprehend his purpose in this odd new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then embarks on a quest, 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 "difficult to make a conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not simply reproducing Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable innovation methods - and providing localised and enhanced 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 engaging and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and forum.pinoo.com.tr factual actions to concerns about Chinese current occasions, demo.qkseo.in which offers it an included benefit.
Experts likewise weighed in on their thoughts after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored version - just 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 per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive methods," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
muhammaddrost8 edited this page 2025-02-18 12:58:32 +08:00