Many Chinese firms, from the popular search engine Baidu to the e-commerce behemoth Alibaba, are increasingly adopting chatbot solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
Two months after its release, the much-discussed language generation model reportedly has 100 million users worldwide.
Users in China, where the service is unavailable, have been developing workarounds. Local companies are now looking to cash in on the trend.
Integrating AI Bots
According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), a Baidu spokesman stated on Tuesday, Feb. 7, that the company aims to finish internal testing in March before making the AI tool accessible to the public. The said chatbot project is named Wenxin Yiyan or Ernie Bot.
Meanwhile, Alibaba's business collaboration tool DingTalk issued a user guide on Monday, Feb. 6, for integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT to group chats with a valid token created by the service. Nonetheless, it emphasized that users must comply with the nation's laws and regulations while using it.
In a statement released on Monday, Chinese online luxury retailer Secoo Group said it would initiate in-depth research and growth into AI-generated content (AIGC) and ChatGPT-related technologies to recognize interactive dialogues akin to real people. There have been concerns about the platform not responding quickly enough to customer support requests.
Hongbo Co, a Chinese manufacturer of printing and lottery systems, informed investors on Tuesday that it was creating and testing products compatible with the ChatGPT interface.
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Emerging Alternatives
As per SCMP's report, the question of when will these ChatGPT alternatives be accessible was among the top 10 queries trending on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Monday night.
Two months after its introduction, ChatGPT has reportedly gained 100 million users. Users have found methods to access the service in China, where it is not accessible, and companies are seeking to benefit from it.
Hundreds of Taobao Marketplace postings offer ChatGPT accounts or bot assistance. Because registering an account needs a foreign phone number, China-based users cannot use the service even with a VPN to avoid the firewall, as per SCMP.
Multiple WeChat startups provide ChatGPT alternatives, too. Shanghai-based Entropy Cloud and Chengdu Yibai from southern Sichuan province have introduced chatbots that provide four free interactions per user for approximately 1,000 yuan ($147) each year.
Entropy Cloud termed their bot ChatGPT Online, which is an AI system developed on technology comparable to ChatGPT's.
The AI Trend in China
A Beijing-based cybersecurity expert, Charles Li, who has used both tools, described them as businesses "trying to make money from the buzzword."
According to Li, he had multiple technical queries for ChatGPT and only received "very basic answers." In his view, technology does not have its own opinion and judgment.
An article in Monday's edition of the local media National Business Daily quoted Pan Helin, a researcher at Zhejiang University and an adviser to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. She said China must bring in ChatGPT and create its own alternative solutions to stay ahead of the curve.
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