Baidu-ernie-4. 0

ERNIE 4.0 is the latest version of Baidu’s conversational AI chatbot. Baidu CEO, Robin Li, has claimed ERNIE 4.0 “is not inferior in any aspect to GPT-4“.

This is a complete guide to Ernie 4.0’s abilities, its integration with Baidu products, and how ERNIE 4.0 compares to ChatGPT – the LLM released by OpenAI.

Top Ernie Bot Facts

  • According to Reuters, China has atleast 130 Large Language Models with Ernie 4.0 being the most advanced.
  • ERNIE stands for “Enhanced Representation from kNowledge IntEgration.
  • ERNIE 4.0 is multimodal. It created text, images, and even video ads (something even ChatGPT can’t do yet) for a car company in a matter of minutes during the demo.
  • Baidu improved its overall performance by almost 30% during its beta testing.
  • ERNIE 4.0 can act as a one-person ad team, solve tough math problems, and come up with story ideas.
  • Baidu wants to use ERNIE 4.0 in its search engine and other tools to give personalized answers, not just links.
  • When asked to write a multi-chapter novel, ERNIE kept the characters and plot points consistent across several dialogues.
  • ERNIE is being used to prevent suicides along China’s Yellow River. In just two months, it has helped prevent four suicides.
  • The National Library of China and other government departments are planning to use ERNIE for organizing their data.
  • ERNIE 4.0 is tightly woven into Baidu’s ecosystem, like search and business analytics. It’s also getting a lot of love from Chinese government departments.

What is ERNIE 4.0?

  • ERNIE 4.0 is the latest version of Baidu’s conversational AI chatbot and foundation model for natural language processing.
  • It was trained using Baidu’s foundation model architecture which utilizes techniques like knowledge enhancement, retrieval enhancement and dialogue enhancement.
  • The training leverages massive datasets, high-performance GPU clusters, efficient model parallel training, and software/hardware integration.
  • Since the launch of the first ERNIE model in March 2022, the training performance has increased by 3.6 times. The weekly average effective training rate is 98%.

ERNIE 4.0 Capabilities

Complex Question Understanding

ERNIE can decipher disorganized and complicated questions to provide accurate answers. For instance, it correctly answered a convoluted question about housing loans.

Multimodal Content Generation

  • ERNIE can produce high-quality content like images, videos, and ad copy from brief text prompts.
  • In just a matter of minutes, the ERNIE Bot swiftly produced a series of ad posters, five lines of ad copy, and a promotional video.
  • Leveraging these abilities, Baidu has rolled out its AIGC creative marketing platform, Qingduo, allowing one person to operate as a full-fledged, AI-driven marketing team.

Strong Reasoning

ERNIE can solve math problems by offering detailed, step-by-step solutions and identifying the relevant knowledge points.

Memory and Consistency

When tasked with writing a multi-chapter martial arts novel, ERNIE maintained consistency in characters and plot points over several dialogues.

Conversational Assistants

ERNIE enables bots like travel booking assistants to understand multi-step queries and execute bookings.

Education

ERNIE contributes to intelligent tutoring systems that evaluate students’ understanding of subjects and offer personalized learning plans.

Customer Service

When linked to company knowledge bases, ERNIE can sift through extensive manuals to accurately answer customer queries.

Suicide Prevention

  • ERNIE is deployed along the Yellow River in China to identify individuals at risk of suicide.
  • It uses both visible light and infrared cameras to constantly monitor the river.
  • The system can detect risky behaviors and alert first responders within 10 seconds.
  • This has significantly improved response times compared to human monitoring alone.
  • In its first two months, the system sent over 1,000 alarms and helped prevent four suicides.
  • The quick 10-second response time is crucial, as every minute counts in these situations.

Government Applications

  • ERNIE bot will be used in National Library of China and government departments to catalogue chronicled data.
  • It already demonstrated an ability to help users trace their ancestry and family roots based on scattered data among multiple documents.

ChatGPT vs ERNIE 4.0

Multimodal Capabilities

  • ERNIE 4.0: Can generate a range of content including text, images, and videos based on simple text prompts and image inputs.
  • ChatGPT: Limited to text-based interactions and doesn’t natively support image or video generation. ChatGPT Plus comes with GPT 4 which is also multimodal but cannot generate video.

Performance:

  • ERNIE 4.0: Claims to have improved its overall performance by almost 30% during its beta testing.
  • ChatGPT: GPT-4 is 40% more accurate and 82% better at handling inappropriate requests than GPT 3.5. Benchmarking tests of ChatGPT vs ERNIE 4.0 are yet to be revealed.

Application Scope

  • ERNIE 4.0: Integrated into a wide range of Baidu’s applications like Baidu Search, Baidu Maps, and business analytics tools.
  • ChatGPT: Primarily a conversational agent but can be extended via plugins for specific tasks. GPT 4 API has already been integrated into third party apps like Khan Academy, Duolingo, etc.

Accessibility

  • ERNIE 4.0: Accessible to invited users and enterprise clients can apply for API testing.
  • ChatGPT: Available to the general public and also offers a subscription-based ChatGPT Plus for additional features.

Language Support

  • ERNIE 4.0: Strong in Chinese language tasks.
  • ChatGPT: Initially trained in English but expanding language support.

Developer Community

  • ERNIE 4.0: Baidu’s Plugin Matrix AI Platform allows developers to build AI plugins.
  • ChatGPT: OpenAI’s API allows for a wide range of applications to be built around ChatGPT via API access and plugin store.

Baidu’s Generative AI Products

Baidu Search

Baidu Search has integrated Generative AI to enhance its user experience. The platform now aggregates information from various web sources and presents consolidated answers in multiple formats, including text, images, and dynamic graphs.

It also offers personalized content streams and an interactive chat interface for complex queries.

Baidu GBI

Baidu GBI (Generative Business Intelligence) serves as a comprehensive business intelligence solution.

Utilizing Generative AI, it performs quick data inquiries and outputs business analytics in easily understandable text and graph summaries. This eliminates the need for manual data retrieval and analysis from multiple spreadsheets, thereby accelerating business decision-making.

Infoflow

Infoflow is an intelligent workplace application that combines enterprise communication, collaborative work, and knowledge management.

With the integration of ERNIE’s AI capabilities, the platform can perform various office tasks through natural language processing, such as organizing meeting agendas and summarizing key takeaways from chat histories.

Baidu Wenku

Originally a content documenting platform, Baidu Wenku has evolved into a content productivity platform with the addition of foundation model capabilities. Wenku allows users to chat with their own private data.

It assists users in academic research, document creation, and presentation generation, thereby reducing the time required for content production.

Baidu Drive YunYiduo

YunYiduo is an intelligent assistant added to Baidu Drive. It allows users to retrieve files through text or voice prompts. The assistant can also summarize key information from videos, pinpoint specific frames, and add subtitles, enhancing user efficiency across various media formats.

Baidu Maps

Baidu Maps has become the world’s first AI-native map product. It offers a range of functions including navigation, ride-hailing, and restaurant recommendations. The integrated AI guide proactively suggests the next steps to users during their trips.

Plugin Matrix AI Platform

This platform provides a low-barrier entry for developing AI plugins. Within a month of its launch, it attracted 27,000 developers from various sectors, including legal counseling and language practice.

Qianfan Foundation Model Platform

Qianfan is a one-stop platform for foundation models. It offers a wide range of pre-installed models, datasets, and toolchains. It has become China’s largest foundation model development platform, supporting over 500 use scenarios across different sectors.

Wrap Up

ERNIE 4.0 is Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT 4 and China’s answer to America’s AI dominance. The list of abilities is impressive but how well ERNIE bot performs in real world remains to be seen.

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