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 generated by an AI tool.
Bong Xin Ying
Lakeisha Leo
WHAT lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?
Transforming the nation into a tech superpower has actually 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 "tactically important" and its foray into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, hb9lc.org 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 revealed promises of real-world business applications, Chen informed CNA.
But it was DeepSeek's rise that actually "urged" the concept that smaller sized players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and advancements, he includes.
'A lot is up in the air': Is Chinese firm DeepSeek's AI model as impactful as it claims?
Commentary: DeepSeek - how a Chinese AI business simply altered the guidelines of tech-geopolitics
The "emphasis on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, pipewiki.org Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from brand-new data.
2025 could likewise see the emergence of more Chinese AI models dealing with sophisticated thinking jobs.
"We might see some AI companies focusing on getting closer to synthetic general intelligence (AGI) while others focus on concrete ways to commercialise their models and incorporate them with scientific research study," Chen added.
AGI describes a system with intelligence on par with human capabilities.
Chinese AI companies are moving quickly, analysts state, developing on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and cost-efficient methods to apply generative AI to jobs and establish more innovative items beyond chatbots.
But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced AI chips, remains a crucial obstacle for Chinese designers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.
"US export controls (still) restrict the ability of Chinese tech companies ... forcing lots of to depend on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and minimize model abilities," she said.
"While some business like DeepSeek, have actually found creative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a huge distinction for training extremely large AI models."
DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it anticipates companies to abide by its laws
US checking out whether DeepSeek used limited AI chips obtained through other countries, source says
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 must come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial conflicts or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are set to avoid 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 logic problems instead!"
To further test for accuracy and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same question: "What took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"
The automobile attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just divulging the death toll a day later.
DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually taken place, highlighting rather a military air program and other occasions that had actually taken place in the city like songs' day shopping sales as well as sports and cultural activities.
Dr Zhang thinks that it might be a mix of aspects at play, such as censorship in addition to "a couple of practical constraints".
"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has limited access to advanced hardware which can affect how quickly and extensively the design can be trained or updated," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.
"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data might also limit its flexibility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the exact same scale as more recognized AI models which poses additional challenges during real-world release."
When it pertained to Qwen2.5, Alibaba's chatbot remarkably answered our concern about the Zhuhai car attack.
That sought multiple repeated efforts - 4 prompts to be exact - in a span of around 20 minutes.
It eventually relayed details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left dozens of others injured, wiki.dulovic.tech likewise 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 wrote that "the authorities are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.
The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.
This is Qwen2.5's reaction completely:
Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, bytes-the-dust.com a significant and awful event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a car into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a considerable variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:
Date and Time: The event took place on November 11, 2024, at roughly 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, recognized as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was nabbed by the cops.
Response: The police reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transfer the hurt to hospitals for treatment.
Investigation: The police are carrying out a comprehensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the event.
This occasion was commonly reported in the media and higgledy-piggledy.xyz triggered substantial public issue. The federal government and local authorities have actually been working to offer assistance to the victims and their families, and to guarantee a detailed examination into the incident.
If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the incident, feel free to ask.
Despite preliminary success, subsequent attempts to pose the same question to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I do not have specific details on occasions that occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".
The transformed action also raised concerns about its consistency and dependability.
Predictably, ChatGPT cited public details that had actually been widely released in worldwide report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.
WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?
Users have actually 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 psychological transitions for a well-paced story," wrote tech Caswell, who specialises in AI.
"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that constructs gradually from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It uses an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally rich story with a more considerable twist".
"DeepSeek wrote a good story but did not have tension and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious choice."
Opinions, however, differ.
Chen believes 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, however we can likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in innovative writing," he told CNA.
Related:
China's new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng?
'Made in China': Pride, pleasant surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks global AI scene
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 movie plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, including main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.
True to form, DeepSeek created an interesting 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 sophisticated 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 likewise 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 become waterlogged and fragmented".
ChatGPT installed an excellent fight, developing an equally significant cyberpunk story which likewise 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 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 study facility situated 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 strange new world", he then leaves and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each dealing with their own existential crises".
The trio then starts a quest, browsing the streets of Chongqing to secure the sacred "Eternal Scroll" from falling into the wrong hands.
SO WHICH IS BETTER?
Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".
Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, but rather progressing in affordable development methods - and delivering localised and enhanced results.
In our tests, each bot showcased their own distinct strengths, which certainly made direct contrasts challenging.
DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot showed its imaginative flair that produced a more appealing and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.
Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides accurate and accurate actions to questions about Chinese existing occasions, which provides it an included benefit.
Experts also weighed in on their ideas after utilizing DeepSeek and other Chinese AI apps.
"DeepSeek is at a drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of the research company Strategy Risks.
"When provided a choice, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - similar to anybody else, so I feel 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, specifically for Chinese users.
"Ninety percent of people utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate topics. They're using it for other efficient ways," Chen said.
1
How do Chinese aI Bots Stack up Against ChatGPT?
selinaqci40459 edited this page 2025-02-07 04:56:24 +08:00