On February 23rd, a browser called “ChatAI” became the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in Taiwan for that day.

This browser app, which is linked to the AI chatbot phenomenon ChatGPT, was the only app that allowed users to access ChatGPT in Chinese on their smartphones. By staying on the right side of the AI trend, it currently has more than 100,000 downloads on Google Play.

How was the team behind ChatAI able to launch their product within three months of ChatGPT entering the market?

John Lai (賴俊毓), founder of the Taiwanese startup MixerBox that created ChatAI, explains that this was made possible by the concept of “minimum viable product” (MVP), a popular school of thought in Silicon Valley. “If you aren’t embarrassed by the product you launched, it means you waited too long,” he says, laughing.

MixerBox is one of the few Taiwanese startups to receive funding from the renowned Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator. Its thirty-plus app products have been downloaded more than 300 million times. 

Lai has a masters in electrical engineering from Harvard University. He is also a master programmer. In 2001, he participated in the programming contest held by the world-famous computing society Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and took home the silver. 

Because of this, he demands the best from his software engineers. His office is directly across from the National Taiwan University (NTU) campus. This year, in order to attract the cream of the crop, he offered an astounding monthly salary of NT$ 130,000 for new hires. This is even more than what Taiwanese tech giants like TSMC and MediaTek offer. As of right now, more than 60% of MixerBox engineers hail from NTU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering (CSIE).

Assembling an A-Team has paid off. The reason why ChatAI was able to connect to ChatGPT was because the NTU CSIE alumni on the team studied natural language processing (NLP) in school. NLP is ChatGPT’s secret sauce; it’s also the linchpin that helped the team integrate ChatGPT into its existing product.  

It’s not a mystery how MixerBox is able to research and develop new programs so quickly. It learned from the legendary Finnish game developer Supercell, which uses a network of highly autonomous, independently operating development teams called “cells” to create their products. 

“Each room in our office houses a cell with a maximum of twelve members,” says Lai. Each cell is responsible for every step of product development. They can roll out a finished program on a very tight schedule. It doesn’t matter if some of the apps don’t take off, as long as some of them make a splash, like ChatAI.

Sandee Chan produces new music with AI ‘talent’

It’s one thing to get ahead with speed. But if the AI is out to replace you, do you take it by the horns or bury your head in the sand?

Famed singer-producer Sandee Chan (陳珊妮) had the courage to opt for the former. 

During a press conference in late March, Chan took the stage with Ethan Tu (杜奕瑾), founder of Taiwan AI Labs, to disclose a startling truth: Her new single “Teach Me the Ways to be Your Love”, released just a week earlier, was not sung by her at all. The vocals were generated by an AI she spent two months developing with the engineers at Taiwan AI Labs.

The AI-generated voice is indistinguishable from her own. Not a single producer, fan, or fellow musician suspected the truth until the big reveal. 

Chan has given a lot of thought to the difference between a creator and a singer. Through her work with AI, she’s come to the conclusion that a music producer cannot be replaced as easily. Even when the AI is singing, it needs the producer’s help to infuse the vocals with human aesthetics and feelings. 

Tu adds that they began the experiment by attempting to use AI tools to assist content creators achieve better productivity and efficiency. In the future, the technology may be used to spark new ideas or invent new business models. 

Sandee Chan(Left), Ethan Tu(Right) (Source: Chien-Ying Chiu)

Tu is the creator of the popular Taiwanese online bulletin board PTT. Devotees refer to him as the “Creation God”. He is widely recognized as a visionary in the field of AI. He worked on the development and marketing of the AI assistant Cortana at Microsoft headquarters in Seattle. Every step of the way, he has borne witness to the rise of AI.

“When you find that part of your work can be done very well by AI, do not fight the inevitable. Instead, you should learn to make use of it,” Tu says.

Abner Chao (趙捷平), founder of the online language learning platform AmazingTalker, is a good example of someone who has adapted to the flow instead of trying to buck the trend.

Three months ago, Chao spent three days testing ChatGPT. He came to the conclusion that all that he’s accomplished could be in danger: The online education industry may vanish overnight. 

AmazingTalker’s business model is to match 12,000 language tutors with users from 190 countries so they may conduct online lessons. With the invention of ChatGPT, students could converse with AI bots instead. They would no longer be constrained by a tutor’s availability and energy,  not to mention the fact that talking to an AI bot is much cheaper.

“I was filled with fear.” Chao realized that AI was already the optimal substitute teacher; motivated students were coming to grips with learning with AI. “With ChatGPT, people will no longer want to pay for knowledge. Education will become free. It is inescapable,” he says worriedly.

Abner Chao(Right) (Source: Ming-Tang Huang)

Fortunately, Chao was able to come up with a brand-new business model that will help his company survive. He decided to utilize AI to mass-produce teaching materials and content, which could be provided for free to users to generate more traffic.

For example, his team used ChatGPT to create a large amount of search engine-optimized content to increase traffic to their platform. In their official app, they’ve begun to introduce incremental amounts of AI-generated video clips. The AI tutors in the shorts look almost lifelike. 

The team also developed the AI vocal coach Bella using GPT-3.5. “She” can converse with students outside of class.

There is another reason why Chao is using AI to generate basic teaching materials and practice conversations with students. He wants human teachers to focus on the jobs that the AI cannot do.

The human touch is irreplaceable

Chao thinks that 20% of the tutors on AmazingTalker will not be replaced by AI.

For instance, there’s an English teacher named Eko who has a doctorate from the Royal Holloway at the University of London. His specialty is injecting materials from movies and science fiction stories into his teaching. He’s also spent six years living in London. His experience studying and working in the UK is very attractive to his students.

Eko(Right) (Source: Ming-Tang Huang)

If a teacher has a specialty and can sell their personal philosophy or outlook on life, then they can survive the AI onslaught. “Students will still want to learn from the human tutor.”

Chao feels that human teachers have a charisma that can help students learn better and with greater enthusiasm. The human touch and unique personal quirks are irreplaceable. 

“I use AI tools to attract more students, but once the free content is not enough, it will be time for human teachers to step in. Our talent pool of professional tutors has the potential to help me achieve my true vision,” says Chao.

Chao also asked the 150 members of his staff to learn to work with AI. But he admits that around 30 individuals could not accept working with artificial intelligence, so they resigned or had to be let go.

“It is undeniable that AI is taking over our jobs. If I cannot instill a sense of crisis in my team, then I’ve failed my responsibility as their employer.” 

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Have you read?

• The story behind Taiwan’s ChatGPT 
• ChatGPT servers powered by Taiwan's Lite-On 
• AI: A Wave Taiwan Must Ride

Translated by Jack Chou
Edited by TC Lin
Uploaded by Ian Huang