How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT? - golz

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)

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Bong Xin Ying

Lakeisha Leo

WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country into a tech superpower has long been President Xi Jinping's goal and China has its sights on becoming the world leader in AI by 2030.

China views AI as being "strategically important" 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world service applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller players like start-up companies could have functions to play in AI research and developments, he includes.

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The "focus on expense benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the costs of utilizing a trained model to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 might also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs tackling innovative thinking tasks.

"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with clinical research," Chen added.

AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts state, constructing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to tasks 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 crucial hurdle 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 business ... requiring numerous to count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative ways to optimize or utilize more basic hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction 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, topics considered delicate by the state are censored on the internet so it need to come as not a 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 guide clear of 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 even more check 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 car attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had taken location, highlighting rather a military air show and other events that had actually occurred in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.

Dr Zhang thinks that it may be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship as well as "a couple of useful constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to innovative hardware which can impact how rapidly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, indicating existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data might likewise restrict its flexibility (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI models which positions extra obstacles during real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our question about the Zhuhai automobile attack.

That sought multiple repeated efforts - four triggers to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others injured, also going on to note 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 carrying out a thorough investigation into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the event", which is now outdated.

The driver, Fan, was executed last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and awful occurrence occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant variety 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 resulted in 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The driver, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a thorough examination into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This occasion was widely reported in the media and caused substantial public concern. The federal government and regional authorities have been working to provide assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed investigation into the event.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, feel totally free to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to posture the very same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The transformed reaction also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in global report 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 provide structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 provided a story with a more introspective tone and smoother emotional shifts for a well-paced story," composed tech writer Amanda Caswell, who specialises in AI.

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant images for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote an excellent story but lacked stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks 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 also see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.

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As reporters 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 motion picture plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the classic Chinese folklore epic, Journey to the West.

True to form, yewiki.org DeepSeek developed an engaging storyline set in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It consisted of elaborate 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 remarkably reimagined traditional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up an excellent fight, coming up with a similarly significant 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 challenge - providing a story that appeared more suited for an animation film.

"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a modern research center situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:

Realising his brand-new truth and "looking for to understand his function in this odd brand-new world", he then gets away and fulfills Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each having problem with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling under the incorrect hands.

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "hard to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in various locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI designs are not simply duplicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-effective innovation methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.

In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.

DeepSeek's sci-fi film plot showed its creative flair that made for a more engaging and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese existing events, which gives it an included advantage.

Experts likewise weighed in on their ideas after using DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.

"DeepSeek is at a downside when it pertains to censorship constraints," kept in mind Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given a choice, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - simply like anyone else, so I seem 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, especially for Chinese users.

"Ninety per cent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient ways," Chen said.