The incident highlights the potential risks of incorporating Chinese generative AI models into products used outside China, as these models may reflect the Chinese government's perspectives. This has sparked broader concerns about the influence of Chinese AI on global technology and culture. The situation underscores warnings from AI leaders about the implications of deploying AI systems developed in countries with different cultural and political contexts. Despite the outcry, Boox, OpenAI, and Microsoft have not publicly commented on the matter.
Key takeaways:
- An uproar occurred when a Kindle competitor, Boox, used ByteDance's Doubao AI model, which spread Chinese propaganda in its responses.
- The AI assistant denied events like the Tiananmen Square massacre and portrayed North Korea and Russia positively, while criticizing Western countries.
- Boox reportedly switched back to OpenAI's GPT-3 after the controversy, but it's unclear which LLM is currently in use.
- The incident highlights the risks of using Chinese generative AI models in international products, as they may spread cultural aspects not aligned with Western views.