Alibaba is doubling down on LLMs, with work app DingTalk now incorporating its AI model Tongyi Qianwen

Alibaba Group Holding has been utilising self-developed large language models (LLM) to help Chinese enterprises improve efficiency via its workplace collaboration app DingTalk, as the e-commerce giant pushes ahead with its investment into this hot artificial intelligence (AI) space.

The DingTalk app enables enterprise customers to use Tongyi Qianwen, the ChatGPT-like service launched in April by Alibaba Cloud, said Ye Jun, president of DingTalk, at the annual digital economy conference hosted on Tuesday by Luohan Academy, the open-research platform initiated by Alibaba in 2018.

In a keynote speech given by Ye in Alibaba’s home city of Hangzhou, Ye presented a user case of how DingTalk has used generative AI tools to help Belle International, a women’s shoe retailer in China, to increase work efficiency in many areas. He said the AI had improved information acquisition, content creation, as well as customer services.

In a live demonstration the generative AI tool was asked how to promote a new product, and it was instructed to give various responses including mind maps, proposal outlines, as well as images. The app was also able to field customer service questions, using the company’s internal database.

Founded in Hangzhou in 2018, Luohan Academy is an open research institute initiated by Alibaba. It has gathered social scientists, including seven Nobel Prize laureates in economics, to research critical issues where digital technology impacts society.

“Five years ago, people’s impression of AI was that it could be used for facial recognition, but now with the emergence of ChatGPT and other intelligent capabilities, I believe there is a new beginning,” said Ye.