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AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT are becoming the new cool thing for companies to roll out — in some cases, whether they’re ready for human consumption or not.
Now, Chinese technology and e-commerce multinational Alibaba is joining the fray, announcing it is working on its own chatbot, dubbed Tongyi Qianwen.
The chatbot’s name translates roughly as “truth from a thousand questions”.
The company’s aims for the bot, though, are so far relatively humble. Tongyi Qianwen will not be customer-facing, at least at first. Rather, it will be designed to work alongside Alibaba’s own internal messaging app, where it will help take notes in meetings and aid in the drafting of emails.
However, it will eventually be rolled out in Alibaba’s own smart speaker, the Tmall Genie.
“We are at a technological watershed moment driven by generative AI and cloud computing,” said Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's chairman and chief executive, during a launch event for the chatbot.
Artificial intelligence (AI) “will bring about big changes to the way we produce, the way we work and the way we live our lives”, Zhang said.
Chinese authorities are moving quickly to stay on top of the wave of AI innovation. The Cyberspace Administration of China has already written a set of draft rules for AI development to ensure that the outcomes of its development respect the nation’s “core socialist values”.
But with TikTok currently under government scrutiny around the world for its possible links to the Chinese Communist Party interference, some commentators believe that a Chinese-built generative AI could present similar problems.
“One can assume that nothing happens in China without the authorities knowing about it or directly sanctioning it,” said Jake Moore, ESET’s global cyber security adviser, via email. “Therefore, with the recent security threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party potentially being able to view TikTok data, it can be assumed the same threat will occur here.”
“Chatbots are increasingly being used and are often fed very sensitive data which could include secret company information. This data is extremely valuable and could be used to spy on companies if shared with third parties,” Moore warned.
“It must be remembered that AI does not only intelligently create impressive output, but it also analyses the input that feeds the algorithm and stores it forever.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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