Local software development firm Tati Software has introduced MobileGPT, a smartphone-based version of ChatGPT that leverages OpenAI’s technology to provide access to the chatbot’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools via WhatsApp.
According to Tati Software, the AI-powered chatbot provides WhatsApp users with access to key features, such as WhatsApp conversations from text inputs, powered by Stable Diffusion XL Engine; access to an AI-powered document generator that produces documents for users; and LiveData search functionality, generating real-time research reports from the internet.
ChatGPT, which stands for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, is a chatbot launched by Microsoft-backed US AI research laboratory OpenAI in November 2022.
The official ChatGPT is currently only available on a web-based platform. It is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models, and is fine-tuned with supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.
It has the ability to interact in conversational dialogue form, provide responses that can appear human, draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command.
In March, Microsoft announced ChatGPT is available in preview in Azure OpenAI Service.
The Azure OpenAI Service allows customers to apply advanced AI models − including Dall-E 2, GPT-3.5 and Codex – to incorporate ChatGPT into their own apps and other large language models backed by the supercomputing and enterprise capabilities of Azure.
This has seen local and global firms integrating ChatGPT into their services, for commercial use cases, such as streamlining external communications and creating presentations.
Tati Software says it has leveraged the platform’s publicly available API, to introduce a home-grown version of the service, which is targeted at students, learners and professionals across Africa.
“MobileGPT aims to bring the generative AI experience within reach of most smartphone and feature phone users across the continent,” says Bertha Kgokong, owner and founder of Tati Software.
“Language models like ChatGPT primarily serve to enhance productivity by significantly reducing the time needed for tasks. The potential of this technology to streamline everyday business processes and enhance communication through AI-driven chatbot integration is immense.”
Tati Software is a black female-owned and managed tech company based in Johannesburg. It develops technologies predominantly for underserved markets in Africa.
The MobileGPT service costs R199 in SA and $20 globally outside of the country, per month.
Despite the excitement surrounding AI technologies like ChatGPT, concerns have been raised about the need to regulate the technology, job losses due to automation and the data security of users.
The regulation of ChatGPT has been in the spotlight since March, when Italy became the first country to ban it, saying the chatbot unlawfully collects personal data – breaching the country’s data privacy rules.
Kgokong explains: “Tati Software prioritises user privacy by not storing any customer data except for phone numbers, which are needed for communication.
“Phone numbers are not shared with any third-parties, and no other information is collected, so we cannot even connect the phone number to an individual. Generated documents and images are not stored anywhere.
“Regarding job losses, people focus on the idea of jobs that might be lost due to new technologies, and forget the gains to society that technology brings. Maybe industrialisation caused labourers to lose some jobs, but it created engineers, consultants and other more sophisticated jobs, in line with the tech improvements.”
According to Tati, the added benefits of having the service via WhatsApp in comparison to a web-based-only platform include familiarity and convenience of easy access, increased engagement and 24/7 availability.
“WhatsApp is widely used, and users are familiar with its interface. Integrating MobileGPT into WhatsApp allows users to access AI features seamlessly without needing a separate web platform. Users are more likely to utilise AI features when they are integrated into familiar apps,” concludes Kgokong.
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