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)

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Bong Xin Ying

Leo

WHAT lags 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 "tactically essential" and its venture into the field has actually been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, an associated researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and wiki.dulovic.tech public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed guarantees of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "urged" the concept that smaller gamers like start-up companies might have roles to play in AI research and advancements, he adds.

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

2025 could likewise see the development of more Chinese AI designs tackling sophisticated reasoning tasks.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to synthetic basic intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete methods to commercialise their models and integrate them with clinical research study," Chen added.

AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.

Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts say, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and establish more advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's sophisticated AI chips, remains a crucial 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 business ... requiring 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 found imaginative ways to enhance or utilize more standard hardware effectively, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big difference for training extremely 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 sensitive by the state are censored on the web so it should come as no surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or tell you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured to steer 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 math, coding, and reasoning issues instead!"

To further check for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was initially greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just disclosing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to point out that an attack had occurred, 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 in addition to "a few useful constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language information might also limit its flexibility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been evaluated as broadly or on the very same scale as more recognized AI designs which positions additional challenges throughout real-world deployment."

When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot surprisingly answered our question about the Zhuhai cars and truck attack.

That was after multiple repeated attempts - four prompts to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It eventually passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, likewise going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, setiathome.berkeley.edu as well as casualties.

However, it composed that "the police are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the motives and circumstances surrounding the incident", details which is now obsoleted.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a major and tragic occurrence took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a vehicle into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant number of casualties. Here are the key details:

Date and Time: The event happened on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.

Location: Zhuhai Sports Center, in the Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai.

Casualties: The attack resulted in 35 deaths and wiki.asexuality.org 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, identified as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was apprehended by the cops.

Response: The authorities reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the injured to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The police are performing a comprehensive investigation into the motives and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was commonly reported in the media and caused considerable public concern. The government and local authorities have actually been working to provide assistance to the victims and their households, and to make sure a detailed investigation into the event.

If you need more detailed details or setiathome.berkeley.edu have particular concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

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

The altered reaction also raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had actually 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 ability of Chinese AI apps to provide structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vivid imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

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

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not perform as strongly as DeepSeek and ChatGPT when it pertains to innovative 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 informed 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 standard sci-fi movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the timeless Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek created an appealing story embeded in the year 2145 entitled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism merges with quantum computing".

It consisted of intricate settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled 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 bar owner "drowning in debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "silent hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT set up a good fight, creating an equally dramatic 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 rule, corporations replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as typical as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - delivering a storyline that appeared more matched for an animation film.

"The motion picture starts with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a state-of-the-art research facility situated in the heart of Chongqing," it said, setiathome.berkeley.edu then going on to explain the following:

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

The trio then embarks on a mission, 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 "hard to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each displayed its own strengths in different 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 innovation techniques - and providing localised and improved 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 made for 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, offers accurate and factual actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which gives it an included benefit.

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," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.

"When given an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored version - similar to anyone else, so I feel like that's a piece missing out on 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 percent of individuals utilizing the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive topics. They're utilizing it for other productive means," Chen said.