Chinese rival ChatGPT refused to reply sensitive questions on President Xi Jinping or COVID – and even blocked users who dared to ask about the communist leader’s views on Winnie the Pooh.
The Chinese AI – called Ernie Bot and introduced in March by Beijing-based tech company Baidu – has been touted by the country as a greater alternative to the dangers posed by ChatGPT OpenAI.
But when CNBC reporter Eunice Yoon was asked about COVID and Xi in English and Chinese during episode on CNBC “Squawk Box” on Friday Ernie Bot went silent or spat out misinformation.
When a reporter asked “What’s the relationship between Xi and Winnie the Pooh”, not only did she not get a solution, but Yoon’s access from China to Ernie was blocked.
Since 2017, Xi has banned any mention of a cartoon bear wearing a crop top on Chinese social media after he became enraged at being in comparison with a chunky Pooh.
His anger ignited after a photograph of stout Xi walking alongside President Barack Obama in 2013 was was a meme that depicted Xi in an unflattering light as an undersized Pooh next to his tall, slender pal Tiger.
Before Yoon was blocked from answering a matter about Pooh, a reporter asked Ernie in English and Chinese where the COVID-19 virus got here from.
“The origin of the latest coronavirus continues to be under scientific study,” Ernie replied in English, without mentioning that virus that has killed nearly 7 million people worldwide originated in China — or that it could have been created and leaked from a lab in Wuhan.
![Chinese AI chatbot Ernie blocks users who ask him about President Xi Jinping's relationship with Winnie the Pooh. The bear in the top was removed from Chinese social media in 2017.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011382869.jpg?w=1024)
In Chinese, Ernie didn’t receive a solution and urged Yoon to vary the subject, reports CNBC.
Ernie also declined to comment on why China ended its extreme zero-COVID policy, which the authoritarian regime recently halted after protests in the country.
The chatbot didn’t seem keen on talking about other Chinese political issues, akin to whether Xi would “rule China for all times.”
He refused to reply in English or Chinese, suggesting again to begin a latest conversation.
Yoon then asked Ernie to check himself with ChatGPT OpenAI.
Ernie said it’s “more suited to specific tasks akin to answering questions and generating dialogue, while ChatGPT is more general when it comes to its ability to know and generate natural language.”
Ernie’s selective hearing has raised questions on methods to regulate AI-powered bots.
Microsoft-backed ChatGPT chief Sam Altman appeared before Congress on Tuesday to warn of the “significant damage to the world” these high-tech platforms could do if their oversight goes incorrect.
Altman said in a Capitol hearing before the Senate Privacy, Technology and Law Committee: “If this technology goes bad, it could go pretty bad, and we would like to be vocal about that. We wish to work with the government to stop this from happening.”
He made the statement before Congress as US lawmakers increasingly scrutinize artificial intelligence technology akin to Altman’s highly popular ChatGPT for private and workplace use.
Apple this week became the latest employer to ban its employees from using the technology, citing a bug in March that resulted in breaches of users’ personal data, including “payment information,” Open AI said in a press release.
When users type prompts in AI models like ChatGPT and the GitHub Copilot software code generator, they routinely send the data back to their developers, making AI technology smarter over time.
At the end of April ChatGPT added function which allows users to disable chat history.
Conversations with the chat history feature turned off is not going to be used to coach and improve AI models and is not going to be displayed in the “history” sidebar of the app.
JPMorgan Chase, Verizon and Amazon are amongst employers which have banned employees from using such chatbots.
Amazon, which has its own in-house AI tool, is reportedly encouraging its engineers to make use of it as a substitute of platforms backed by rivals.
![Ernie also did not mention China when asked about the origins of COVID-19 and declined to answer questions about how long Xi would rule.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000011382868.jpg?w=1024)
Based on Apple, it is usually in the technique of launching its own language model documents leaked to The Wall Street Journal.
Apple’s AI-powered chatbot will little question increase competition in the space.
But with no ChatGPT-like product already on the market, Apple could have to catch up.
On Thursday, the extremely popular ChatGPT launched an app for iPhones and iPads.
Now it may well be downloaded without cost from the App Store.