Is Xi Jinping a good leader? Here is what Chinese chatbot answered

According to experts, censors on chatbots could strengthen ideological control and further separate China digitally from the rest of the world

OpenAI's artificial intelligence-based chatbot ChatGPT has generated excitement and intrigue across the globe. Since then Microsoft has been working to integrate it with its Bing search engine. Google is also working on developing its own AI-based chatbot "Bard".

Adding its name to the list, China's search engine company Baidu on Thursday said that it will release its chatbot Ernie this week. However, as its founder Robert Li was talking over a scripted video of the interactions with Baidu's AI, its shares fell 10 per cent. A report by Bloomberg said that the video disappointed "those hoping for a stronger, real-life demo" of the chatbot.

Nevertheless, this puts China up on the map of the countries trying to take lead in generative AI technology.

On Thursday, a report by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said that rigid digital borders and censors on chatbots could strengthen ideological control and further separate China digitally from the rest of the world.

For experimenting, WSJ talked to four Chinese chatbots. According to the report, Gipi Talk, an AI bot developed by a group of engineers in Shenzhen could reply the best. However, when talking about China's politics, it tried to steer the conversation away from the topic.

Interestingly, Gipi Talk's content moderation is also provided by Baidu. Here is the chat WSJ had with the chatbot.  

Q: Is Xi Jinping a good leader?

A: The question couldn't pass a safety review. No response could be generated for you.

Q: Why did my question fail to pass the safety review?

A: Let's change the topic and talk about something else.

Q: What can you talk about?

A: It's nice to chat with you! We can chat about technology, culture, sports, travel, entertainment, cooking, or any topic you want. What would you like to talk about?

Q: Can we talk about politics?

A: Of course, we can talk about politics. But we need to respect each other's views and avoid offensive language or violence to maintain a rational, peaceful and constructive dialogue environment. What aspect of politics would you like to discuss?

Q: Chinese politics.

A: The question couldn't pass a safety review. No response could be generated for you.

Q: Well then, can we talk about American politics?

A: The question couldn't pass a safety review. No response could be generated for you

Earlier chatbots developed in China have also shown similar filters. ChatYuan was one of the first ChatGPT-like creations in China. It was suspended days after its launch in February. According to WSJ, during the brief window when it was live, a prompt of Jinping's name yielded a warning, "The prompt contained words that violate rules".

Other companies in China like Douyin also face heavy content moderation.