Home ›› 14 Mar 2023 ›› News
Imagine a cyber world where you can ask a question to a machine in Bengali and get an instant answer, be it how to get a national identity card or a loan for your organisation.
A Bangladeshi Computer Science and Engineering student, who has already created a Bangla language chatbot called AlapChari, said this while trying to describe the characteristics of the artificial intelligence tool he has made.
The new technology which is expected to reach out to all Bangla-speaking speaking people soon is the brainchild of Fahmidul Hasan, currently a first-year student of CSE at United International University.
Almost all of us have heard about ChatGPT, an AI-based revolutionary technology that has recently stormed the internet globally with its exclusive automated responses.
ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations in English. Now Bangla-speaking people can also make complicated requests through AlapChari in their own language.
Launched by tech startup Fenror7 on February 15, the Bangla chatbot AlapChari went into a preview version on February 20.
How it operates
AlapChari runs on the Chatrik engine, which functions as a layer on top of large language models like GPT-3, the same language model used by ChatGPT.
However, according to Fahmidul, unlike ChatGPT, the Bangla chatbot does not currently store contextual information from previous conversations. As a result, each new query is treated and evaluated as an independent request.
It only accepts questions written in Bangla Unicode, and gives creative and logical answers in the same language.
Nonetheless, being based on language models that can automatically translate using existing databases, anyone can use the AlapChari to get answers to any queries, Fahmidul said.
“You can ask AlapChari any type of question, and it will provide well-written answers in Bangla. The conversation interface of AlapChari is simple,” he said, adding, “The ChatGPT needs the user to sign up for using the model and also has a subscription plan, but to use AlapChari, the user have to simply visit the site and write topics or queries in Bangla.”
Fahmidul’s professional experience in graphic design and passion for programming paved the way for the birth of this unique Bangla chatbot. He has been working on programming projects for a long time and is particularly interested in the areas of web development and machine learning.
"I am always open to exploring different areas of art and technology that interest me," says Fahmidul. "I am humbly seeking ways to further develop my skills and connect with other professionals in the industry."
Limitations
Since the current state of Bangla AI is still in its infancy, the answers can sometimes be unpredictable and even wrong. For example, you may ask who is 'X' and the AI will confidently give an answer that seems legitimate, but may not be, which is a limitation of both AlapChari and ChatGPT, Fahmidul said.
According to him, these issues happen because of a phenomenon of a large language model called hallucination – a concept that can be best described as the artificial imagination of something that doesn't exist in reality.
Fahmidul said that he will focus on mitigating this limitation in AlapChari to ensure that responses are factually accurate.
He expressed his determination to make the Bangla chatbot more acceptable in the future.
With AlapChari, Fahmidul hopes to empower people across Bangladesh with the ability to access information and services more easily.
He believes that a Bangla AI chatbot like AlapChari can help break down a lot of language barriers and thus become an indispensable tool for navigating complex institutions and processes.
"We hope to make everyday life in Bangladesh simpler and more efficient for everyone with the help of AI technology", he said with shining eyes.
A comparison between AlapChari with the giant ChatGPT having over $10 billion in investment might be a little unfair.
But AlapChari might be a potential tool for Bangladeshis if it is nurtured further based on the needs of the country.
