How does Russian GigaChat differ from ChatGPT
Sberbank, the biggest bank in Russia, has declared the launch and trial period of the country's first GigaChat in April 2023, a model competing with ChatGPT. Be sure not to mix it up with "GigaChad", a term found in the Urban Dictionary meaning “a physically strong, tall, and masculine alpha male,” often portrayed in memes as a modified digital image of Ernest Khalimov, a well-known Russian fitness model and bodybuilder.
GigaChat was particularly created for those who speak Russian as their primary language. The bank asserts that what makes GigaChat stand out is its superior ability to interact in Russian, compared to other foreign neural networks.
How does GigaChat work?
The CEO of Sberbank has lauded GigaChat as “a breakthrough for the larger universe of Russian technology.”
The bank hasn't revealed the technical specifications of the underlying technology for GigaChat. Yet, it's believed that it has been trained in Russian and boasts multimodal features, providing it with an edge over ChatGPT. GigaChat can answer queries, engage in chats, write programming codes to create software, and even produce images. However, it's not currently capable of conducting extended dialogues in foreign languages.
Sberbank states that what differentiates this Russian chatbot competitor is its ability to generate both text and visuals, unlike ChatGPT that only generates text. For the time being, GigaChat is only being launched to a limited group of testers, who can register through a private Telegram channel, as reported by The Moscow Times.
"It’s important to note that GigaChat can be used not only by those who love to experiment with new technologies, but also by students, and even researchers for serious scientific work,” Sberbank’s CEO stated.
GigaChat is the second AI conversation partner introduced in Russia this season. Last month, Sistemma, an IT firm based in Moscow, revealed its own ChatGPT rival, known as SistemmaGPT.
Sistemma's AI language model, which functions exclusively on local servers and in Russian, was created specifically for Russian businesses and government agencies. Developers at Sistemma assert that its generative pre-transformer (GPT) has the same features as ChatGPT-3.5 and prides itself on "encyclopedic knowledge."
The company plans to launch its chatbot for testing in the upcoming summer.
GigaChat vs ChatGPT
Since its sudden rise in popularity last November, ChatGPT has been prohibited in Kremlin due to concerns about disinformation and criminal misuse. OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed startup that created ChatGPT, claimed at its launch that it had blocked Russian users from accessing the tool.
Meanwhile, Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, has heavily invested in cutting-edge technology in recent years. However, it suffered a significant financial loss following Russia's invasion of Ukraine due to decreased exports, Western sanctions, and the withdrawal from the EU's SWIFT payment network.
Sberbank is optimistic that GigaChat will firmly establish both the bank and Russia as permanent players in the global AI technology development scene.
Quick comparison
ChatGPT:
- ChatGPT is a widely-used AI chatbot developed by OpenAI.
- It's trained on a vast amount of text data, and it can discuss a wide variety of topics.
- Currently, ChatGPT's main drawback is that it can only produce text and can't generate images.
GigaChat:
- GigaChat is an AI chatbot created by Sberbank to compete with ChatGPT.
- It's trained in Russian and boasts multimodal features, giving it a potential advantage over ChatGPT in certain contexts.
- GigaChat's adaptable analytics tool could make it an affordable solution for businesses.
Neat, as a Russian speaker, it might be fun to try this when it releases, see what it can do. AI is still a fad, but sometimes it’s worth trying something even if just to confirm your suspicions.