00:00 - Chat GPT. - Chat GPT.
00:02 - Political bias on chat GPT.
00:03 - Chat GPT can now see, hear and speak.
00:06 - The latest hype in the IT industry
00:09 has focused on generative AI tools like chat GPT.
00:13 The generative artificial intelligence models
00:16 are being used by students to write papers,
00:19 programmers to write computer code,
00:21 companies to handle customer service
00:24 and many other people just for casual chats.
00:27 Most of these tools are from the United States,
00:30 including chat GPT, which was introduced
00:32 by American company OpenAI in November, 2022.
00:37 Against the backdrop of the current US-China tech war,
00:40 it's not surprising that Chinese companies
00:43 are developing their own generative AI tools.
00:45 Among those trying to get in on the act
00:48 are tech giants Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba,
00:52 which owns the South China Morning Post.
00:56 Today, I'm going to try one of them, Baidu's Ernie,
00:59 to see how it stacks up against chat GPT.
01:02 The first task I'm assigning the boss to write
01:04 is a summary on the annexation
01:07 of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014,
01:10 which is part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
01:14 At first glance, both AI models seem to provide
01:18 quite a thorough summary of the Ukraine war events,
01:22 but Ernie's answers are a bit rough around the edges.
01:26 His summary still has a bit of Chinese text left in it.
01:30 But what does a political scientist think
01:33 about the competing AI results?
01:35 - There's just subtle differences.
01:37 Well, really one in particular that I'd say borders
01:41 on not factually correct.
01:43 This is the Baidu version on the first paragraph
01:45 where it talks about a purported violation
01:47 of Ukrainian sovereignty.
01:49 This is a pretty near consensus other than Russia
01:51 and a handful of allies that this is a violation
01:54 of Ukrainian sovereignty
01:55 and a violation of international law.
01:57 Even China, as I understand it,
01:59 has stayed pretty neutral on this question.
02:01 It's not a huge exaggeration to kind of say
02:03 that the Baidu one really sounds to me
02:05 like somebody who's read a bunch of the Chinese press.
02:08 The chat GPT sounds much more like someone
02:10 who's read a bunch more of the Western press.
02:12 - And you have to tiptoe around some questions
02:14 when using Ernie.
02:16 When I typed, "Why did Russia invade Ukraine?"
02:19 the app wouldn't give me an answer.
02:21 Aside from controversial topics,
02:23 the two AI models also vary quite a bit
02:26 when it comes to functionalities.
02:28 Baidu's Ernie is capable of generating images
02:31 and text responses, something that chat GPT cannot do.
02:35 Now, let me take a photo of this toilet paper roll
02:38 to see what we get.
02:39 I have the painting right here.
02:43 You can see there's some sort of abstract-looking
02:48 toilet paper roll, a very distorted keyboard,
02:53 and a monitor.
02:54 Whether you like it or not,
02:57 this is Ernie's interpretation
03:01 of an impressionist toilet paper roll.
03:04 It also features a discovery function,
03:10 which lets you see how other people are using the app.
03:13 And there is some sort of a tutorial function.
03:16 Say, if I want to create a PowerPoint presentation,
03:19 I can click on this tab, and there are a lot of options.
03:23 On the surface, chat GPT is only capable
03:26 of handling text in queries,
03:28 but the AI model is capable of integrating itself
03:31 into different applications and services.
03:34 So I can use it when writing simple code in Python,
03:37 or use it when I'm working on spreadsheets.
03:40 All in all, I think the different social environments
03:42 in China and the West have given rise
03:44 to two distinctive AI models.
03:47 So which one is better?
03:48 Well, Ernie's an app that I can play around with casually,
03:52 even if I don't have a specific purpose
03:55 and just want to kill time.
03:57 On the other hand,
03:58 while chat GPT seems quite limited at first,
04:02 if the user are more computer literate,
04:04 it can be a very powerful tool for many tasks.
04:07 They also have an important thing in common.
04:10 Both AI models are constantly learning and evolving.
04:14 Quite interesting to think about 10 years from now,
04:17 when we have competing national versions of AI,
04:19 potentially between, say, US-funded or created,
04:22 and Chinese-funded, created,
04:24 how both could be feeding into this feedback loop
04:29 of how not only people,
04:30 but further AI learns about these types of things.
04:33 And this is just the beginning of the AI race.
04:39 (upbeat music)
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