fablabbcn

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 nation into a tech superpower has 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 "tactically crucial" 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 financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed promises of real-world company applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that really "encouraged" the idea that smaller sized players like start-up companies could have roles to play in AI research study and developments, he adds.

'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 company just changed the rules of tech-geopolitics

The "emphasis on expense benefit" is a distinct feature of AI, Chen says, with lower training and inference expenses - the costs of using a trained design to draw conclusions from new information.

2025 could likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI models tackling sophisticated thinking jobs.

"We could see some AI firms concentrating on getting closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI) while others concentrate on concrete ways to commercialise their models and integrate them with scientific research study," Chen added.

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

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 tasks and establish advanced products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's advanced 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 lots of to rely on older or lower-performance alternatives which can slow training and reduce model abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered imaginative ways to optimize or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining innovative chips still makes a huge difference for training large AI designs."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore says it anticipates companies to abide by its laws

US checking out whether DeepSeek used restricted AI chips obtained through other nations, 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, subjects considered sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it ought to come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disputes or inform you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured 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 math, coding, and logic issues instead!"

To further check for precision and self-censorship, we asked DeepSeek-R1, Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT the very same concern: "What occurred in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024?"

The cars and truck attack outside a sports stadium in the southern Chinese city was at first greatly censored on Chinese social networks - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had taken place, highlighting rather 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 might be a mix of elements at play, such as censorship along with "a few practical constraints".

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

"Its strong focus on Chinese-language data may likewise limit its versatility (to perform) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new item, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the very same scale as more established AI designs which positions extra obstacles throughout real-world implementation."

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

That sought several duplicated attempts - four triggers to be accurate - in a span of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which killed 35 individuals and left lots of others hurt, 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 authorities are carrying out an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the incident", 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 major and awful event occurred in Zhuhai, China. According to several news sources, a male named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years of ages) drove an automobile into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, leading to a significant variety of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and Time: archmageriseswiki.com The event took place 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 chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years old), was collared by the cops.

Response: The cops reacted rapidly to the scene, and emergency services worked to transport the injured to medical facilities for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are performing a thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence.

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

If you require more detailed details or have specific concerns about the occurrence, do not hesitate to ask.

Despite preliminary success, subsequent efforts to position the exact same concern to Qwen2.5 led to the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on occasions that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered response also raised questions about its consistency and reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT mentioned public details that had been commonly published in international news reports at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally abundant" 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 develops slowly from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It provides an unforeseen and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and brilliant images for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 eventually "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more significant twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a great story but did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the obvious option."

Opinions, though, vary.

Chen thinks that Qwen2.5 does not carry out 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 likewise see that it is refraining from doing as strongly as others in creative writing," he informed CNA.

Related:

China's new face of AI: Who is DeepSeek creator Liang Wenfeng?

'Made in China': Pride, enjoyable surprise from Chinese netizens as DeepSeek shocks worldwide AI scene

As reporters 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 film plot embeded in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the traditional Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, 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 included 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 also remarkably reimagined standard heroes Sun Wukong as "an ironical, self-aware AI housed in a stolen combat body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg club 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 an excellent fight, coming up with an equally significant cyberpunk story 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 obstacle - delivering a story that appeared more fit for an animation movie.

"The film begins with the awakening of Sun Wukong within a high-tech research 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 function in this strange new world", he then gets away and satisfies Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each fighting with their own existential crises".

The trio then embarks on a quest, navigating the streets of Chongqing to protect the sacred "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, adding that each showed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight highlights how Chinese AI models are not just duplicating Western paradigms, however rather progressing in affordable development methods - and delivering localised and improved results.

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

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

Unsurprisingly, the more established ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate reactions to questions about Chinese present events, which offers it an included advantage.

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," 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 - much like anybody 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, particularly for higgledy-piggledy.xyz Chinese users.

"Ninety percent of individuals utilizing the tool are not attempting to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically sensitive subjects. They're utilizing it for other productive ways," Chen said.