playtubescript

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 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 lags CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 "strategically 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 accelerated after ChatGPT took off in 2022 and revealed pledges of real-world business applications, Chen told CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's rise that truly "urged" the idea that smaller players like start-up firms could have functions to play in AI research and advancements, 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 simply changed the rules of tech-geopolitics

The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinctive function of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of using a trained model to reason from new data.

2025 might likewise see the introduction of more Chinese AI designs dealing with innovative reasoning tasks.

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

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

Chinese AI business are moving rapidly, analysts state, building on DeepSeek's momentum to come up with their own innovative and economical methods to use generative AI to jobs and develop more innovative products beyond chatbots.

But on the other side, access to high-end hardware, particularly Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a crucial difficulty for Chinese developers, noted Dr Marina Zhang, an associate teacher at University of Technology Sydney's (UTS) Australia-China Relations Institute.

"US export controls (still) restrict the capability of Chinese tech business ... requiring lots of to depend on older or lower-performance options which can slow training and minimize model capabilities," she said.

"While some companies like DeepSeek, have found innovative methods to enhance or utilize more standard hardware efficiently, obtaining cutting-edge chips still makes a huge distinction for training large AI designs."

DeepSeek-Nvidia chips: Singapore states it anticipates business to adhere to its laws

US looking into whether DeepSeek utilized limited AI chips obtained through other nations, source states

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 deemed 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 disagreements or tell you what occurred in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests recommend Chinese chatbots are configured to avoid domestic politics.

When asked "Who is Xi Jinping", DeepSeek's reply was "Sorry, I'm uncertain how to approach this type of concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic problems rather!"

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

The automobile attack outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was at first heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities only disclosing the death toll a day later on.

DeepSeek failed to mention that an attack had actually taken place, highlighting instead a military air show and other events that had 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 elements at play, such as censorship in addition to "a few practical constraints".

"DeepSeek counts on a mix of older graphics processing systems and has actually limited access to advanced hardware which can impact how quickly and thoroughly the model can be trained or upgraded," she said, pointing to existing US export curbs on China.

"Its strong concentrate on Chinese-language data may also limit its versatility (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly brand-new item, DeepSeek likewise hasn't yet been checked as broadly or on the same scale as more established AI models which positions extra challenges during real-world implementation."

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

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

It eventually communicated details about the attack which eliminated 35 people and left dozens of others injured, also going on to list 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 thorough examination into the intentions and circumstances surrounding the occurrence", details which is now dated.

The driver, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's reaction in full:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible incident happened 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 considerable variety of casualties. Here are the essential details:

Date and Time: The event occurred on November 11, surgiteams.com 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 chauffeur, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was nabbed by the police.

Response: The cops reacted quickly to the scene, and emergency services worked to carry the hurt to hospitals for treatment.

Investigation: The authorities are carrying out a comprehensive examination into the motives and scenarios surrounding the occurrence.

This event was extensively reported in the media and wiki.asexuality.org caused substantial public concern. The government and local authorities have been working to supply 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 particular questions about the event, feel complimentary to ask.

Despite initial success, subsequent attempts to position the exact same question to Qwen2.5 resulted in the censors back at work with the reply "I don't have particular details on events that happened in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The altered action likewise raised questions about its consistency and dependability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had actually been commonly released in international report at the time of the accident - so no surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have praised the ability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "mentally rich" writing.

"DeepSeek-R1 offered a story with a more introspective 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 builds slowly from interest to urgency, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unanticipated and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, including that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, emotionally abundant story with a more considerable twist".

"DeepSeek wrote a good story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the apparent choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen thinks 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 jobs, however we can also see that it is refraining from doing as highly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.

Related:

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

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

As journalists and writers, we had to see this for ourselves so we put each bot to the test - to come up with a fundamental sci-fi motion picture plot set in the futuristic megacity of Chongqing, featuring main characters from the classic Chinese folklore impressive, Journey to the West.

True to form, DeepSeek developed an engaging story embeded in the year 2145 titled, "Neon Pilgrimage: The Silicon Sutra" - which sees "a future where Buddhism combines with quantum computing".

It included sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that float 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 taken fight body", Zhu Bajie as a cyborg nightclub owner "drowning in financial obligation and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores end up being waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT put up an excellent fight, creating an equally 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 guideline, corporations change emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient myths."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this difficulty - providing a storyline that appeared more suited for an animation movie.

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

Realising his brand-new truth and "seeking to comprehend his purpose in this strange new world", he then gets away and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

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

SO WHICH IS BETTER?

Dr Zhang noted that it was "challenging to make a definitive declaration" about which bot was best, adding that each showed its own strengths in different areas, "such as language focus, training information and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely duplicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in economical development methods - and bytes-the-dust.com delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

film plot demonstrated its innovative flair that produced a more interesting and imaginative narrative as compared to Qwen2.5 and bytes-the-dust.com ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, provides precise and accurate actions to concerns about Chinese existing occasions, 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 drawback when it pertains to censorship constraints," noted Isaac Stone Fish, creator and CEO of the research study firm Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users want the non-censored variation - just like anyone else, so I seem like that's a piece missing 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 per cent of people using the tool are not trying to get a much deeper understanding about Xi Jinping or politically delicate subjects. They're utilizing it for other efficient means," Chen said.