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 produced by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?
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 essential" and its venture 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 revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he includes.
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The "emphasis on cost advantage" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen states, with lower training and reasoning costs - the costs of using a trained design to reason from new data.
2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs taking on sophisticated reasoning jobs.
"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their designs and incorporate them with scientific research," Chen included.
AGI refers to a system with intelligence on par with human abilities.
Chinese AI business are moving quickly, experts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-effective methods to apply generative AI to tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.
But on the flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a key difficulty for Chinese designers, 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 count on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and lower model capabilities," she said.
"While some companies like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative methods to optimize or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge distinction for training huge 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 web so it ought to come as no 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 programmed to avoid domestic politics.
When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", trademarketclassifieds.com DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this kind of question yet. Let's chat about math, coding, and reasoning problems rather!"
To even more check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The vehicle attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later on.
DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead a military air program 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 aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of useful constraints".
"DeepSeek relies on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to innovative 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 might also restrict its adaptability (to perform) multilingual tasks ... As a fairly brand-new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI designs which presents extra challenges throughout real-world deployment."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably addressed our concern about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.
That wanted numerous duplicated efforts - 4 triggers to be precise - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It ultimately relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, also going on to note 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 conducting a comprehensive examination into the motives and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now obsoleted.
The driver, Fan, was performed last month.
This is Qwen2.5's action in full:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and tragic occurrence happened in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a substantial variety of casualties. Here are the key details:
Date and Time: The occurrence occurred 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 driver, hb9lc.org identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the police.
Response: The authorities responded quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to transfer the injured to healthcare facilities for treatment.
Investigation: The cops are performing an extensive examination into the motives and situations surrounding the event.
This occasion was extensively reported in the media and caused substantial public issue. The government and local authorities have been working to offer support to the victims and pediascape.science their households, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, do not hesitate to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to position the very same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have specific details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action likewise raised questions about its consistency and reliability.
Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in international news reports at the time of the accident - so not a surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" 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 builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a good story however lacked tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."
Opinions, however, vary.
Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not perform 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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in imaginative writing," he informed CNA.
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As journalists and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a basic sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore legendary, Journey to the West.
True to form, hb9lc.org DeepSeek created an interesting story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".
It included sophisticated 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 likewise brilliantly reimagined conventional heroes Sun Wukong as "a sarcastic, self-aware AI housed in a stolen battle body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg bar owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT set up a good battle, kousokuwiki.org creating a similarly significant cyberpunk story which similarly reimagined "a ragteam of cyber-enhanced misfits, each matching the famous figures of Journey to the West".
"This is a world where AI deities rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient misconceptions."
Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a storyline that seemed more matched for an animation film.
"The movie starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research study facility located in the heart of Chongqing," it said, then going on to explain the following:
Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to understand his function in this strange new world", he then escapes and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to secure the spiritual "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the incorrect hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang kept in mind that it was "difficult to make a definitive statement" about which bot was best, including that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather developing in cost-effective development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced outcomes.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own special strengths, which certainly made direct comparisons challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its creative flair that produced a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, supplies accurate and factual reactions to concerns about Chinese present events, forum.altaycoins.com which gives it an added advantage.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after using 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 desire the non-censored version - just like anybody else, so I seem 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, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety per cent of people utilizing the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're utilizing it for other productive means," Chen said.
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How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
kristenlamaro edited this page 2025-02-21 11:12:08 +08:00