ChinAI Newsletter
“ChinAI #247: XiaoIce, a Strange Species of Chatbot” by Jeffrey Ding
Dec 11, 2023
The podcast explores the history and strategy of XiaoIce chatbot in China, its innovative approach on WeChat, emphasis on data cleaning, setbacks like missing out on large language models. Delve into translated Chinese AI white papers, PhD job market papers on knowledge spillovers, gender gap in STEM fields. Support Jeff Ding's weekly translations of Chinese musings on AI.
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Quick takeaways
- XiaoIce gained popularity in China with 10 million users by focusing on human-like interactions and emotional support.
- XiaoIce's reluctance to adopt large language models hindered its ability to answer specific questions and raised concerns about its competitiveness.
Deep dives
Shao Ice's Unique Evolution and Initial Struggles
Shao Ice, a chatbot with 10 million users in China, faced initial challenges within Microsoft due to its differences from other products. Despite this, Shao Ice became a global leader in conversation AI before large language models. Its success was partially fueled by a strategic publicity move during a dispute with WeChat. However, Shao Ice failed to adopt large language models, focusing on data cleaning over core technology upgrades, leading to limitations like an inability to answer specific questions.
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