Chinese firm iFLYTEK launches new version of AI language model

The iFLYTEK logo. /CFP

China's leading artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent speech company iFLYTEK on Tuesday launched a new version of its AI-powered large language model, Spark Desk 2.0.

The new model serves as a major upgrade of both coding and multi-modal capabilities, said Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFLYTEK, at a launch held in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province.

According to Liu, the model's coding capabilities have improved in terms of code generation, completion, error correction, explanation and unit testing generation.

As a multi-modal model, Spark Desk 2.0 can read and analyze pictures, generate photos, and create pictures and short videos based on ancient poems.

Spark Desk vs. ChatGPT

iFLYTEK launched Spark Desk in MAY.with key capabilities, including AI-generated content, multi-language understanding, logical reasoning, mathematics and coding. 

"We aim to exceed ChatGPT's capabilities in Chinese language by October 24 and will achieve a similar level to it in English," Liu said at the time.

According to Liu, SparkDesk has already performed better than ChatGPT in terms of text generation, knowledge-based question-answering, and mathematical ability when prompted in the Chinese language. 

He said apart from the above capabilities, a general AI model should be able to perform tasks in seven areas, including problem-solving, logic deduction, coding, and multi-modal understanding.

So far, the model has been applied in diverse areas, such as education, office work, and the automobile, financial and medical industries.

(With input from Xinhua)