China has its own ChatGPT now and here’s how to use it

China’s ChatGPT, Ernie, is getting very popular nowadays. Let’s learn how to use it together.

During a tech conference held in Shenzhen, China, Baidu revealed that its Ernie chatbot successfully attracted 200 million users within eight months. Although generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot have been accessible to American consumers since November 2022, they remain unavailable in China. This gap in the market has prompted local tech giants like Baidu to seize the chance to fulfill this demand. Similarly, these companies are just as keen as their American counterparts to promote their technological progress.

What is Ernie?

“Enhanced Representation through kNowledge IntEgration,” abbreviated as Ernie, is a generative AI and knowledge-enhanced large language model (LLM) developed by Baidu, a top player in the search engine sector. The development of Ernie began in 2019, culminating in its release in March 2023.

Ernie excels in mathematical reasoning and comprehending the intricacies of human language. Since its inception in 2019, Baidu has been refining this language model. Ernie’s interactions are coherent and natural, resembling a conversation with an intelligent, perceptive friend who is powered by sophisticated AI technology.

How to use Ernie?

Ernie is accessible via its official website or a specialized mobile application, depending on your location and its availability.

The availability for users outside China might differ. Follow these steps for access:

• Navigate to the official Ernie website to download the app from the App Store or Tencent Store, noting that it is not available on Google Play.
• To set up a new account, provide your name and email address, and create a secure password.
• Confirm your account by receiving a verification code via mobile phone or an email link.
• Once your account is established and verified, log in with your username or email and password.
• Begin interacting with Ernie by entering questions or utilizing its features once logged in.

This is how it looks like:

Ernie is accessible via its official website or a specialized mobile application (Image credit) How does Ernie work?

Ernie functions through a combination of several advanced AI technologies. It utilizes supervised fine-tuning, reinforcement learning with human feedback, and prompt learning to refine its responses. The model also incorporates knowledge enhancement techniques to integrate vast amounts of information, making its interactions more informed and contextually relevant.

What are the key innovations in Ernie?

The innovations in Ernie include knowledge enhancement, retrieval enhancement, and dialogue enhancement. Knowledge enhancement involves learning from vast datasets and integrating this knowledge directly into the model’s parameters. Retrieval enhancement improves the model’s ability to fetch and utilize external information effectively. Dialogue enhancement focuses on improving the model’s memory, contextual understanding, and planning abilities to produce more coherent and logical dialogues.

Ernie functions through a combination of several advanced AI technologies (Image credit) What support does the PaddlePaddle platform provide to Ernie?

Baidu’s PaddlePaddle platform underpins Ernie by offering robust support for dynamic and static programming modes and facilitating efficient training of large models. PaddlePaddle enhances the performance, efficiency, and capability of Ernie through advanced features like computation fusion, model compression, and efficient inference mechanisms. This integrated support accelerates the development and deployment of AI applications.

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How does Ernie contribute to industrial intelligence?

Ernie, supported by the PaddlePaddle platform, drives the standardization, automation, and modularization of AI technologies and applications. This synergy facilitates the large-scale production of AI solutions, streamlining the integration of AI across various industries. Ernie’s evolving capabilities offer a continuous enhancement in intelligence applications, promoting significant advancements in numerous industrial sectors.

The popularity of chatbots is increasing daily, leading to intriguing developments in how we interact with technology. This surge in use invites a closer look at the transformative effects of AI-driven conversational agents in various sectors.

Featured image credit: Mohamed Nohassi/Unsplash