China has unleashed its attempt at artificial intelligence onto the world through a new chatbot named Ernie.
But it was quickly noticed that asking it controversial questions about the country's leader Xi Jinping or anything surrounding massacres and genocides are banned.
The AI chatbot was launched a few weeks ago after approval from the Chinese Government, as laws in the country prevent any AI products being marketed to the public without approval from the top.
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Made by Chinese tech giant Baidu, it works essentially like Chat-GPT but is only available in China and needs a Baidu account to access it.
However, it refuses to respond to questions about the country's leader, or the Uygur genocide, or former massacres allegedly committed in the country.
And when asked about science-related topics such as Coronavirus, the answer left a lot to be desired.
It claims the pandemic was started by Americans using vapes and that it ended up in Wuhan – where it has been confirmed to have started from a laboratory leak – via “American lobsters”.
Professor Haiqing Yu, from China's technology-based RMIT University, confirmed the software has been censored.
She said: “So they deliberately put in those so-called sensitive terms and words.
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“And then – of course, it's all expected – the chatbot tells you 'this topic is forbidden,' or they try to talk about something else.
“Chinese internet is heavily censored, the content is already cleaned. so the end product itself is understandably sanitised, which is typical.
“They are living in China, people are used to this kind of censorship regime, and it's not surprising to them that these chatbots have also been censored.
“China is one of the first countries in the world to regulate AI, and regulate algorithms for generative AI in particular, and China wants to demonstrate to the world it is a responsible superpower – it's not just about making money, or just about controlling people, it wants to look good on global stage as a responsible AI superpower.”
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