“ChinAI #247: XiaoIce, a Strange Species of Chatbot” by Jeffrey Ding

Greetings from a world where… newborn calves are not afraid of tigers [初生牛犊不怕虎] …As always, the searchable archive of all past issues is here. Please please subscribe here to support ChinAI under a Guardian/Wikipedia-style tipping model (everyone gets the same content but those who can pay support access for all AND compensation for awesome ChinAI contributors). Feature Translation: XiaoIce Peerless Context: For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to learn more about XiaoIce, the chatbot with 10 million active users in China. Back in August 2021, The Washington Post reported: Xiaoice has grown so popular that she performs 14 human lifetimes’ worth of interactions each day, said Li Di, CEO of Xiaoice, which Microsoft spun off in 2020. She's busiest from 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., when users unload their day's experiences or grow emotional. Xiaoice has 10 million active users in China. How did XiaoIce get [...] --- First published: December 11th, 2023 Source: https://chinai.substack.com/p/chinai-247-xiaoice-as-a-strange-species --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Narrations of the ChinAI Newsletter by Jeffrey Ding. China is becoming an indispensable part of the global AI landscape. Alongside the rise of China’s AI capabilities, a surge of Chinese writing and scholarship on AI-related topics is shedding light on a range of fascinating topics, including: China’s grand strategy for advanced technology like AI, the characteristics of key Chinese AI actors (e.g. companies and individual thinkers), and the ethical implications of AI development. While traditional media and China specialists can provide important insights on these questions through on-the-ground reporting and extensive background knowledge, ChinAI takes a different approach: it bets on the proposition that for many of these issues, the people with the most knowledge and insight are Chinese people themselves who are sharing their insights in Chinese. Through translating articles and documents from government departments, think tanks, traditional media, and newer forms of “self-media,” etc., ChinAI provides a unique look into the intersection between a country that is changing the world and a technology that is doing the same.