Alibaba Announces Launch of AI Chatbot Tongyi Qianwen
The Chinese technology giant plans to integrate the chatbot across its businesses, including its workplace messaging app DingTalk and Tmall Genie.
Alibaba, the Chinese technology giant, has announced its plans to launch its own AI chatbot called Tongyi Qianwen, which roughly translates to “seeking an answer by asking a thousand questions”. The chatbot will be integrated across Alibaba’s businesses in the near future, including its workplace messaging app DingTalk and Tmall Genie, its smart speaker similar to Amazon’s Alexa.
Tongyi Qianwen Capabilities
Alibaba’s cloud computing unit said the chatbot is capable of working in English and Chinese and will perform various tasks, including turning conversations into written notes, drafting business proposals, and writing emails. The chatbot’s capabilities are expected to be expanded in the future to include additional functions.
Rival to ChatGPT
The launch of Tongyi Qianwen comes after Alibaba announced earlier this year that it was working on a rival to Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which has garnered significant interest in recent months. ChatGPT leverages generative AI to respond to questions with language that sounds natural and human-like. Additionally, it has the ability to emulate various writing styles. Having invested billions of dollars in the technology, Microsoft incorporated ChatGPT into its search engine, Bing, back in February. Furthermore, the tech giant has announced its intention to integrate a version of ChatGPT into its Office suite of applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Interest in Generative AI
The rise in interest in generative AI has led Google and Baidu, a Chinese technology group, to unveil their own AI models and launch comparable chatbots. Nevertheless, the legitimacy of the data employed to train this technology has raised concerns, leading China’s cyberspace regulator to introduce draft measures for managing generative AI. As per the proposed regulations, companies would be accountable for ensuring the validity of data employed to train the technology. The public has been given until May 10 to provide their feedback on these proposals.
Potential Job Loss and Threat to Humanity
Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, released a report estimating that the adoption of AI could potentially displace around 300 million full-time jobs. As a result, several prominent figures in the technology industry, including Twitter CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, have signed an open letter calling for the halt of training advanced AI systems due to concerns about the possible threat to humanity.
Conclusion
The launch of Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen chatbot highlights the increasing interest and competition in the generative AI space, which has prompted concerns over job losses and potential threats to humanity. While Alibaba has not given a timeline for the integration of the chatbot across its businesses, its capabilities are expected to expand in the future. Meanwhile, China’s cyberspace regulator has proposed measures for managing generative AI, with the public given until May 10 to give feedback on the proposals.
