MeitY Working On WhatsApp Chatbot That Uses Data From ChatGPT: Report

ChatGPT was launched as a prototype in November 2022 and ever since then, organisations have been jumping onto the AI bandwagon.

Microsoft last week announced ChatGPT-powered Bing and Edge features. 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is reportedly planning to integrate ChatGPT on WhatsApp for major government programmes targeted at farmers. The OpenAI-developed chatbot has been taking the world by storm, thanks to its ability to generate surprisingly human-like responses to users’ queries — be it how to write an HTML script or how to change your car’s tire — within a matter of seconds. 

ChatGPT was launched as a prototype in November 2022 and ever since then, organisations have been jumping onto the AI bandwagon, integrating OpenAI’s tech into their own platforms. Now, it appears that MeitY has similar plans.

As per a report by The Indian Express, a small MeitY team, called Bhashini, is presently working on a WhatsApp chatbot using ChatGPT’s data models. It has been designed primarily for use by Indian farmers when they wish to seek information on various government initiatives and similar queries. 

 Now, when it comes to rural India, users may not be as well equipped when it comes to typing in their queries on WhatsApp. As a workaround, MeitY’s version of the app will also be able to take user inputs in the form of voice messages. So, all a user would need to do is essentially ask the chatbot a question, and an answer will be provided back in the form of audio messages only, easing the overall process.

The MeitY-developed chatbot is currently under testing and the team working on it is looking to enable support for the various languages used across the country. As per an official working on the project, large datasets will be required of the many languages spoken in the country to build such a language model.

As mentioned earlier, several tech giants have already been jumping on to the AI-chatbot bandwagon. For starters, Microsoft last week announced ChatGPT-powered Bing and Edge features. 

Even rival Google went ahead and announced its own chatbot, called Bard. However, the launch has been marred with several issues. Google-parent Alphabet’s shares fell 8 per cent or $8.59 per share to $99.05 and remained one of the most actively traded on US exchanges.

Analysts raise concerns saying Google’s AI search event lacked details on how it will answer Microsoft's ChatGPT challenge. 

The tech company shared a short GIF video of Bard in action through Twitter describing the chatbot as a "launchpad for curiosity" saying it would help simplify complex topics. However, it ended up showing an inaccurate answer that came to notice just hours before the launch event for Bard in Paris.