ChatGPT has been one of the most relevant technological revolutions in recent years. This application developed by Open AI has been discovered as something more than just a conversational chat based on artificial intelligence algorithms. Its applications in very diverse fields can lead to substantial changes both in the ways of working and in social relations themselves.
For this reason, many other alternatives have emerged, such as Microsoft’s Bing Chat or Google’s Bard. It was to be expected that a Chinese replica would also emerge due to the usual tendency of the Asian giant to copy the most relevant technology to make its own version. This time we are talking about Ernie Bot from Baidu.
This new chatbot based on artificial intelligence has accumulated up to a million users in the first 19 hours in which it has been made available to the public globally last Thursday. It seems that this new tool has caught on quite well with users of this type of technology. We’ll see if it will be a good competitor for Chat GPT.
A disappointing first demo
The truth is that at first Ernie Bot did not really attract attention. Last March, the great Chinese search engine Baidu made a presentation of its chatbot that did not produce very good feelings for investors. The main reason is that the demonstration was based on the use of pre-recorded videos where the features of this software were shown. The air of disappointment could not be avoided at not being able to verify the operation of the tool live and direct.
Despite this first fiasco, since Baidu made this tool available to users, it has been very well received. It is available both on computers and mobile phones, like its predecessors, through the web or by download. The official announcement was made by the company via WeChat (the eastern equivalent of WhatsApp). More than 17 million euros have been invested in its development.
Perhaps this is because one of its main features, which can also be an initial drawback, is that its 550 billion pieces of data are focused on the Chinese market. Right now the version that exists is only in Chinese, which greatly limits access to a large number of users.
In fact, Ernie Bot has been created with the approval of the government of this Asian country and has ensured the officially established guidelines on generative AI. One of the main premises is that it follow the basic values of socialism. There is great uncertainty about how the operation of this tool will be combined with the use of censorship that exists in this country.
What to expect from Ernie Bot
Ernie Bot seems to have the same applications as GPT Chat and other similar tools. You can create documents, create poems, make reports or have a conversation that pretends to be human. It also has the ability to generate images from text. The truth is that its benefits are very similar to those of existing tools.
As in its western twin, in addition to using the database, it also feeds on the responses of its users to make improvements in its operation. The idea is that it increases the speed when it comes to finding answers and can offer a higher quality of experience thanks to the collection of information from real world information.
This tool will have a large application store so that users can adjust its functionality to the needs of each particular case. The idea is that it has more and more plugins that increase the versatility of this chatbot to make it more attractive to all types of audiences.
The Ernie Bot boot looks quite promising. The Chinese market is very powerful and this is demonstrated every time he launches one of his technological products, even though it doesn’t add anything new. It will be interesting to monitor its behavior in the coming years to see if it occupies a priority position among all the current offer of this type of technology.
