Baidu’s ERNIE Bot stands out as a prominent player in China’s AI industry. Known for its impressive ERNIE 4.0 model, this chatbot has captured widespread attention since its launch.
It’s celebrated for its achievements and high performance.
You’ll find a detailed look at ERNIE Bot’s usage, comparing it with other leading AI chatbots like ChatGPT.
This exploration reveals how ERNIE Bot has gained widespread acceptance in China, impacting various fields and showcasing its versatility in real-world applications.
1) Top ERNIE Bot highlights
ERNIE AI is making waves in China’s AI space. It’s the first domestic AI app fully accessible to the public in China, handling millions of queries daily.
Thousands of enterprises use Baidu’s services, making ERNIE a central tool for many.
Impressive stats
- ERNIE Bot 4 outpaces GPT-4 with 260 billion parameters compared to GPT-4’s 100 billion.
- It has surpassed 70 million users, though it trails ChatGPT’s estimated 180 million users.
- Baidu’s ERNIE Bot is the most downloaded free app in China on Apple’s App Store.
Applications
ERNIE Bot’s uses include search, AI cloud, and autonomous driving.
These applications make life and business processes more efficient and innovative. It’s not just a chatbot; it’s a versatile AI tool changing various industries.
2) ERNIE Bot’s place in China’s AI industry
What Does ERNIE stand for?
ERNIE stands for Enhanced Representation from Knowledge Integration. It represents an advanced AI model designed to integrate various types of knowledge for more accurate and nuanced understanding.
Who created Ernie Bot?
Ernie Bot was developed by Baidu, a major Chinese tech company. Baidu introduced it as a comprehensive AI chatbot capable of competing with ChatGPT.
Baidu’s launch of Ernie Bot came right after OpenAI’s introduction of GPT-4. Unlike some tech giants, Baidu created Ernie Bot internally without relying on external AI services.
When was Ernie Bot launched?
The first ERNIE model was made available in 2019 by Tsinghua University researchers. This early version showcased the ability to understand natural language by combining text and knowledge graphs.
Later in 2019, Baidu released ERnie 2.0, which set a record score on the GLUE benchmark for language understanding. Baidu introduced the latest version, ERnie Bot, on March 16, 2023.
Is ERNIE Bot accessible outside China?
Currently, ERnie Bot is only available within China. As the first domestic AI application of its kind, it is open to the public there, but has not been released internationally.
Various Chinese government departments, including the National Library, plan to use ERnie Bot for organizing their data.
Size of the Artificial Intelligence Industry in China
China’s AI industry has seen significant investment. By 2021, it attracted nearly 400 million yuan.
By 2030, China’s AI market is expected to reach $104.70 billion USD, making it one of the largest markets globally. Beijing aims to become a global AI leader by 2030.
China’s patent office received 1.59 million patent applications in 2021, representing nearly half of the global total. The country has around 130 large language models, second only to the United States.
As of 2023, Chinese tech companies had introduced over 70 such models with more than a billion parameters.
Social media usage in China
Social media plays a crucial role in China’s digital landscape, with over 1.03 billion users. This represents about 72.32% of the population.
Platforms benefit from AI tools like ERnie Bot, which can help create content and campaign ideas tailored to local audiences.
Regulation of the Artificial Intelligence industry in China
China’s generative AI industry is regulated, with 70 generative AI models launched commercially soon after the regulations were put in place.
These include models like ERnie Bot, which must comply with these regulations when operating and collecting data.
Public response to ERNIE Bot’s launch
ERnie Bot’s launch generated immense interest. Within the first 24 hours, it responded to over 33.42 million questions and had over a million daily active users within just 19 hours.
More than 30,000 corporate users requested access to the ERnie Bot Enterprise Edition API within an hour of its introduction.
On average, the bot handled 23,000 questions per minute during its initial day of operation. The waitlist for the bot, opened in March 2023, attracted over 1.2 million users.
ERNIE Bot’s user base
ERnie Bot has amassed a user base of 300 million since its launch as of 2024. It has also attracted hundreds of thousands of developers.
The bot now manages tens of millions of queries daily and is integrated into the operations of thousands of companies. It has quickly become the most downloaded free app in China on Apple’s app store and is accessible to hundreds of millions of internet users.
4) Facts on ERNIE 4.0
What is Ernie 4.0?
ERNIE 4.0 is Baidu’s advanced AI model and a strong rival to OpenAI’s GPT-4. It can handle multiple languages, create videos, generate code, and integrate with knowledge graphs.
Impressive demonstrations have shown ERNIE creating text, images, and video ads quickly, like a one-person ad team. It’s also capable of solving complex math problems and coming up with story ideas.
When tasked with writing a multi-chapter novel, ERNIE maintained consistency in characters and plot points across dialogues.
How does Baidu use Ernie 4.0?
Baidu has integrated ERNIE 4.0 into its search engine and other tools to offer personalized answers instead of just links. The AI model is deeply embedded in Baidu’s ecosystem, including search and business analytics.
Many Chinese government departments also use it. ERNIE retrieves the latest information from the web and is used in various Baidu products to improve user experiences.
Languages Ernie 4.0 supports
ERNIE 4.0 primarily works in Mandarin Chinese, its native language. It also functions in English, though with slightly lower accuracy compared to Mandarin.
Competition within China
Baidu faces competition in China from companies like Alibaba and SenseTime, which are developing similar AI models. Baidu’s advantage lies in its deep understanding of Chinese queries and its ability to generate diverse response types, including videos and audio.
Public availability of Ernie 4.0 Turbo
ERNIE 4.0 Turbo is not yet available to the general public. However, Baidu has allowed selected individuals to test the new model.
5) ERNIE Bot compared to ChatGPT and other AI chatbots
The Most Popular AI Chatbot
OpenAI’s ChatGPT became a major player in the AI chatbot market after its launch on November 30, 2022. It quickly gained popularity worldwide, standing out among various AI solutions available today.
China’s Version of OpenAI
Baidu, often referred to as China’s Google, introduced Ernie Bot to the market in March 2023. This launch marked Baidu as the first major Chinese contender in the AI space, closely following Google’s introduction of Bard.
Does Ernie Bot Have More Data Than ChatGPT?
When comparing model sizes, Ernie Bot 4.0 is notably larger than GPT-4. Ernie Bot boasts 260 billion parameters, whereas GPT-4 has 100 billion. This larger capacity allows Ernie Bot to have a greater ability to learn and process information.
Comparing Costs of Paid Versions
In terms of pricing, Ernie Bot’s paid version costs 59.9 yuan, or about $8.18, per month. On the other hand, OpenAI charges $20 per month for ChatGPT’s premium service. Interestingly, Google Bard and Bing Chat are currently free to use.
User Base Comparison
Ernie Bot has accumulated over 70 million users since its launch. In contrast, ChatGPT has an estimated 180 million users, a figure likely influenced by its earlier release date. In March 2023, Ernie Bot’s waitlist saw over 1.2 million sign-ups, surpassing Google’s Bard, which had 1 million users.
Unique Features of Ernie Bot
Ernie Bot stands out with its ability to combine vast knowledge with extensive data, enabling superior understanding and generation capabilities. This distinct feature sets Ernie apart from other AI language models available today.
Is Ernie Bot Superior to ChatGPT?
In certain tests, Ernie Bot has shown to outperform ChatGPT. For example, in some academic exams, Ernie Bot scored higher marks. Specifically, in tests focused on the Chinese language, Ernie 3.5 surpassed both ChatGPT and GPT-4. However, in English, GPT-4 outperformed Ernie 3.5, though Ernie still did better than ChatGPT. In another metric, Baidu’s Ernie 4.0 integrates knowledge graphs for better performance and includes advanced features like image and text-to-video generation, posing tough competition for ChatGPT-4.
Duration of Training ChatGPT
The training process for ChatGPT was extensive, taking OpenAI more than a year. Additionally, it took another year to fine-tune GPT-4, reflecting the significant time investment required to develop these advanced AI models.
6) Overview of ERNIE Bot’s parent company; Baidu
Number of Baidu App Users
Baidu’s app traffic has grown steadily over the past two years. As of June 2023, Baidu’s app boasts 677 million monthly active users.
Baidu’s Financial Performance
In the third quarter of 2023, Baidu reported a revenue of $4.72 billion. This was buoyed by advancements in AI, including the ERNIE Bot. Baidu’s robotaxi service provided 821,000 rides in the same quarter.
In 2022, Baidu AI Cloud generated revenue of RMB 17.7 billion ($2.57 billion), a 23% year-over-year increase. It accounted for 14.3% of Baidu’s total revenue that year. Baidu stands as China’s top search engine provider, raking in $17.93 billion in 2022.
Impact of ERNIE Bot’s Debut on Baidu
Following the announcement of the ERNIE Bot, a competitor to ChatGPT and Google Bard, Baidu saw its stocks rise by nearly 12%. However, the lack of a live demonstration during the launch event led to a 6.36% drop in Baidu’s Hong Kong shares. Despite this, the stock has seen a 24% increase so far in 2023.
Baidu’s Investment in Research and Development
Over the past decade, Baidu has invested 140 billion yuan ($19.22 billion) in research and development. This funding supports a comprehensive AI portfolio, including applications, models, and chips.
7) Metrics on ERNIE Bot’s performance, trainings, and improvements
Improvements Made by Ernie Bot
- Since launch in March, Ernie Bot has mastered over 200 writing styles.
- It has shown a 1.6-fold increase in content quality.
- Performance improved by nearly 30% during beta testing.
- It is supported by PaddlePaddle, bringing better performance and efficiency.
- PaddlePaddle has now engaged 5.35 million developers and serves 200,000 enterprises.
Data Used for Ernie Bot Training
- Training performance has surged 3.6 times since the first model in March 2022.
- The weekly average effective training rate stands at 98%.
- It was trained on massive datasets, including trillions of web pages and tens of billions of search and image data.
- Daily voice data and a knowledge graph of 550 billion facts enhance its capabilities.
Detectability of Ernie Bot’s Content by AI Detectors
- Thirty English articles generated by Ernie Bot were tested by Originality.AI.
- Originality.AI detected 27 articles as entirely AI-generated with 100% accuracy.
- The remaining three articles were identified as 99% AI-generated.
8) Essential uses of ERNIE Bot
Diverse applications of ERNIE Bot
- ERNIE Bot is used in many fields like search engines, AI cloud services, and autonomous driving. It can perform complex tasks and improve user experiences in these areas.
- Along the Yellow River in China, ERNIE Bot helps identify people at risk of suicide. In the first two months, it issued over 1,000 alerts and helped prevent four suicides.
- Baidu’s AI technology has greatly increased the antibody response of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by 128 times.
- With PaddlePaddle, Baidu created PaddleHelix, a platform for biocomputing. This platform uses AI in the fields of small molecules, proteins, peptides, and RNA. It also creates new research methods for biological sciences.
