Baidu launched AI chatbot namely Ernie bot which is claimed to have the ability to approach GPT-4, mastering 550 billion facts mostly in Chinese.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — China’s search engine company, Baidu, officially introduced its artificial intelligence chatbot, namely the Ernie bot (03/16). The chatbot is powered by Baidu’s AI-driven deep learning model, Ernie which stands for “Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration”.
The latest version of Ernie bot is claimed to have the ability to approach GPT-4, the latest language model developed by OpenAI to power ChatGPT. Baidu has been developing this chatbot technology for the last 10 years and it was launched first in 2019.
Baidu showcased the Ernie bot’s capabilities at the press conference, which can perform mathematical calculations, speak in a Chinese dialect, and generate videos and images from Chinese text. Ernie bot has 550 billion facts in its knowledge graph, mostly in Chinese as it is still intended for the Chinese market.
The chatbot can answer users’ queries with audio responses in different Chinese dialects. Due to the focus on the domestic market first, Ernie bot may not be able to answer questions for certain subjects outside of that country.
Ernie bot access is still limited based on the invitation code
At the launch event, CEO of Baidu Robin Li demonstrated the Ernie bot in summarizing a Chinese sci-fi novel and made suggestions on how to continue writing the book if it were to be expanded, as reported by Engadget. The chatbot can also name the actors in the film adaptation, compare their heights and conclude who is taller.
Further, Ernie bot also demonstrated its ability to suggest names for a high-tech service company catering to small and mid-size enterprises, write slogans for it and generate a newsletter with a specified word count in another demo observed by Engadget.
Unlike ChatGPT which is free for the public to use, Ernie bot is currently only accessible for testing by an initial group of users with an invite code. However, Baidu said that companies can apply to embed bots into their products through Baidu’s cloud platform.
Robin said that 650 companies have signed up to implement the Ernie bot technology, though he admits it is not anticipated for widespread rollout yet. “So why are we unveiling it today? Because the market demands it,” concluded Robin as quoted by Reuters.
