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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'S BEHIND CHINA'S AI BOOM?

Transforming the country 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 essential" and its venture into the field has been "years in the making", said Chen Qiheng, wavedream.wiki an associated scientist at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis.

Private and public financial investments in Chinese AI sped up after ChatGPT removed in 2022 and showed guarantees of real-world organization applications, Chen informed CNA.

But it was DeepSeek's increase that truly "encouraged" the concept that smaller players like start-up firms might have functions to play in AI research and advancements, he includes.

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The "focus on cost benefit" is a distinguishing characteristic of Chinese AI, Chen says, with lower training and reasoning expenses - the expenses of utilizing a trained design to reason from brand-new data.

2025 could also see the introduction of more Chinese AI models taking on advanced thinking jobs.

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

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

Chinese AI companies are moving rapidly, analysts say, constructing 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 flip side, access to high-end hardware, especially Nvidia's innovative AI chips, remains a key obstacle for Chinese developers, kept in mind Dr Marina Zhang, disgaeawiki.info 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 alternatives which can slow training and decrease design abilities," she said.

"While some business like DeepSeek, have discovered innovative ways to enhance or utilize more fundamental hardware efficiently, obtaining advanced chips still makes a big distinction for training extremely big AI models."

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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, subjects deemed sensitive by the state are censored on the internet so it should come as not a surprise that Chinese-made chatbots will not acknowledge territorial disagreements or inform you what took place in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tests suggest 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 concern yet. Let's chat about mathematics, coding, and logic issues instead!"

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

The outside a sports arena in the southern Chinese city was initially heavily censored on Chinese social media - with authorities just revealing the death toll a day later.

DeepSeek failed to discuss that an attack had happened, highlighting instead 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 thinks that it might be a mix of factors at play, such as censorship along with "a few useful constraints".

"DeepSeek depends on a mix of older graphics processing units and has actually restricted access to cutting-edge 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 information may also limit its adaptability (to bring out) multilingual jobs ... As a fairly new product, DeepSeek also hasn't yet been tested as broadly or on the same scale as more recognized AI models which poses extra challenges during real-world release."

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

That sought several duplicated attempts - four prompts to be precise - in a period of around 20 minutes.

It ultimately passed on details about the attack which eliminated 35 individuals and left dozens of others hurt, also going on to list details like the date and time, details about the assailant including his name and age, as well as casualties.

However, it wrote that "the police are conducting a thorough investigation into the intentions and scenarios surrounding the occurrence", details which is now outdated.

The motorist, Fan, was carried out last month.

This is Qwen2.5's response completely:

Answer: On Nov 11, 2024, a significant and terrible event took place in Zhuhai, China. According to numerous news sources, a man named Fan Weiqiu (樊某, male, 62 years old) drove a cars and truck into a crowd at the Zhuhai Sports Center, resulting in a significant number of casualties. Here are the crucial details:

Date and wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de Time: The occurrence occurred on November 11, 2024, at approximately 19:48 PM.

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

Casualties: The attack led to 35 deaths and 43 injuries.

Perpetrator: The motorist, determined as Fan Weiqiu (male, 62 years of ages), was collared by the authorities.

Response: The authorities responded rapidly to the scene, and emergency situation services worked to carry the hurt to health centers for treatment.

Investigation: The cops are conducting an extensive investigation into the intentions and situations surrounding the occurrence.

This event was widely reported in the media and triggered significant public concern. The federal government and genbecle.com local authorities have been working to provide support to the victims and their households, and to ensure a detailed investigation into the incident.

If you require more detailed details or have specific questions about the incident, feel free 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 specific details on events that took place in Zhuhai on November 11, 2024".

The modified reaction also raised questions about its consistency and oeclub.org reliability.

Predictably, ChatGPT pointed out public details that had been widely released in international report at the time of the mishap - so not a surprises there.

WHICH IS MORE CREATIVE?

Users have actually praised the capability of Chinese AI apps to deliver structured and even "emotionally rich" writing.

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

"Qwen2.5 delivered a story that develops gradually from curiosity to seriousness, keeping the reader engaged. It offers an unexpected and impactful twist at the end and immersive descriptions and vibrant imagery for the setting," she said, adding that Qwen2.5 ultimately "crafted a more cinematic, mentally abundant story with a more substantial twist".

"DeepSeek composed an excellent story however did not have stress and an impactful climax, making Qwen2.5 the evident choice."

Opinions, however, vary.

Chen believes that Qwen2.5 does not carry out as highly 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 highly as others in innovative writing," he informed CNA.

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

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

It consisted of sophisticated settings - smoggy skies "pierced by skyscrapers", "holographic lanterns that drift above neon-lit streets" and "ancient temples nestled in between quantum server farms".

It also remarkably 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 debt and vices" and Sha Wujing as a "quiet hulking android" from the Yangtze River, whose "memory cores become waterlogged and fragmented".

ChatGPT installed a good fight, coming up with an equally remarkable cyberpunk story which similarly 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 replace emperors and cybernetic implants are as common as ancient misconceptions."

Disappointingly, Qwen2.5 fell short in this challenge - providing a story that seemed more suited for an animation movie.

"The film 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 understand his purpose in this unusual brand-new world", he then escapes and meets Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing - "each battling with their own existential crises".

The trio then starts a mission, browsing 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 conclusive statement" about which bot was best, including that each displayed its own strengths in different locations, "such as language focus, training data and hardware optimization".

Her insight underscores how Chinese AI models are not merely replicating Western paradigms, however rather evolving in cost-effective development methods - and delivering localised and improved outcomes.

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

DeepSeek's sci-fi movie plot demonstrated its creative flair that made for a more engaging and imaginative story as compared to Qwen2.5 and ChatGPT's efforts.

Unsurprisingly, the more recognized ChatGPT, unburdened by Chinese censorship constraints, offers accurate and accurate responses to concerns about Chinese current events, which provides 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 company Strategy Risks.

"When offered an option, Chinese users desire the non-censored variation - simply like anybody else, so I feel like that's a piece missing from it."

Independent Beijing-based specialist Andy Chen Xinran said censorship would not be a dealbreaker when it pertains to AI bots, particularly for Chinese users.

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