March 28, 2023
Baidu, a Chinese search engine, has revealed that its chatbot Ernie possesses a broader set of abilities than previously disclosed. The disclosure was made by a Baidu spokesperson who shared images on WeChat.
The images showed Ernie displaying new capabilities during a closed-door meeting for companies testing an industry-specific version of the chatbot. The chatbot is capable of producing travel itineraries and virtual, human-like live streamers that can advertise products using scripts tailored to the user’s needs.
This is beyond summarizing financial statements and producing PowerPoint presentations, among other industry-focused capabilities which was previously revealed to the public.
Baidu CEO Robin Li previously presented the Ernie bot during a livestreamed presentation on March 16, where he demonstrated the chatbot’s various capabilities through pre-recorded demos. The company also stated that the regular version of the app is open for testing, and that more companies can apply to test the industry-specific version from March 31 onwards.
Tests conducted by Reuters indicate that the regular version of Ernie is proficient in the Chinese language but produces factual errors and avoids answering political questions.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
