In early 2023, Baidu CEO Robin Li said at the Baidu Create Conference, "As the threshold of technology application continues to decrease, creators will usher in the golden 10 years of AI."
EqualOcean has learned that Baidu（百度） is laying out AI products overseas and launched an AI social product called "SynClub" in Hong Kong, China, Japan, and some overseas markets. SynClub adopts Baidu's latest AI technology, allowing users to make their own AI friends, and through the companionship of AI friends, the user can immerse in more interesting and in-depth conversations. According to Baidu, AI Friend provides 7*24 support when users feel frustrated, tired, or find it challenging to talk to others. With AI technology, AI Friends can help soothe users' minds, relieve stress, and improve health based on your preferences.
AI socializing is a new type of social track at the moment. The head products of the domestic social track, such as MOMO and Soul, have begun to lay out such products or functions. In 2022, Soul released on-line intelligent dialogue robot "AI Goudan", which is able to carry out multiple rounds of personalized communication with the user, and combined with a number of functions such as posting, interaction, and so on, to enrich the user's interactive experience. Baidu also launched an AI virtual chat community APP "Small Kan Planet" earlier this year, users can chat with a virtual person with the application of AI in the social scene. In addition, Baidu is also laying out the AI smartwatch. Baidu launched a product called "Watch AI", positioned as a watch chat AI and AI life assistant.
Overseas, the exploration of AI social networking can be traced back to Replika, a popular AI dating app that was launched in Europe and the United States in 2017, and has now gained 10 million users worldwide. In China, there are even users who have specially established a Replika group to share their experiences and insights of "falling in love" with AI. In addition, character.ai, a chatbot platform that has been led by a16z and valued at USD 1 billion, has also won the attention and favor of capital. Caryn Marjorie, an internet celebrity with 2 million followers on snap chat, created the first real-life AI-enabled Caryn AI chatbot by using the GPT-4 API interface to build a chatbot based on her voice and personality. There is also Call Annie, which is popular in Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, can directly engage in a video dialogue with users, and is regarded by many Chinese netizens as a free English tutor and spiritual mentor. At the same time, Paradot's existential chat memory with personalized attributes, and can read newspapers and find interactive topics for them.
With the popularity of ChatGPT, we can feel the mania for AI dialogue. It is still unknown how big a market will be generated by the AI social track based on natural language interaction, whether it will create another national-level application or be sensational and chaotic after the trend. But what can be expected is that if the big model can generate more value beyond tools and productivity, the virtual chat application that meets the emotional needs of human beings will also be one of the biggest markets.