Recently, the AI chatbot ChatGPT, developed by the American technology company OpenAI, has attracted widespread attention. It can be applied across a wide range of everyday scenarios, broadening the possibilities for the future development of various industries. In the education sector, several leading companies have announced their entry into the field within just a few days, sparking widespread discussion.

Amid this trend, what are the practical applications of ChatGPT and related artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in the field of education? It remains an open question whether similar AI technologies like ChatGPT have been developed in China.

Recently, the Smart Learning Team at TAL Education Group revealed that the AI-powered teaching assistant "Xiao Pai" has been officially launched on TAL’s Xueersi Xpad. According to reports, "Xiao Pai" has long served as the internal codename for the project. It is now being deployed on the Xueersi Xpad, though it may be renamed upon its official release.

Identifying and intelligently explaining handwritten calculation questions

"Xiao Pai" has been in development for several years, focusing on AI-powered problem-solving capabilities in mathematics and other domains. Its core strength lies in mathematical logic and computation. The Xueersi Xpad is equipped with TAL Education's self-developed AI technology, which has demonstrated outstanding performance in solving and explaining math problems automatically.

In practical tests, when users of the Xueersi Xpad use compatible AR glasses to scan a handwritten or printed math problem, the "Xiao Pai" robot intelligently analyzes the question and provides clear and logically sound explanations of the solution. Notably, the covered problems include complex calculations involving fractions, decimals, and even clever techniques involving combinations—producing explanations that are comparable to those of a real teacher.

Comparison of the answers to the same math question between ChatGPT (top) and Xiao Pai (bottom)

It was revealed that development of the "Xiao Pai" technology began in 2020, based on TAL Education’s professional question bank containing over 300 million questions. It has since undergone three years of training and iterative development. According to some test results, Xiao pai’s performance on math calculation problems has even surpassed that of the ChatGPT model in certain sample cases, as demonstrated in the clever example shown above.

Future introduction of ChatGPT-like technology

As a key participant in developing China’s next-generation AI open innovation platform for smart education, TAL Education has achieved notable progress in applying artificial intelligence to the education field in recent years. By continuously investing in the research and development of core technologies such as machine learning and big data, TAL  is steadily improving its models’ ability to understand and solve calculation and applied problems.

Currently, the "Xiao Pai" robot delivers near real-world performance in terms of speed and accuracy when solving math problems, and has taken a leading position in the industry.

According to the head of the Xueersi Xpad project, TAL  has been actively exploring cutting-edge technologies to offer users more advanced, intelligent, and user-friendly products. The emergence of ChatGPT brings new inspiration and tools for product development. In the future, Xueersi will continue upgrading and iterating its Xpad and related products using relevant ChatGPT technologies, with the aim of significantly improving question coverage, human-computer interaction, and the clarity and engagement of explanations.

This article is from Beijing Daily: https://bj.bjd.com.cn/5b165687a010550e5ddc0e6a/contentShare/5ba1f926e4b0976ea0d9a0fc/AP63e628c2e4b0ed71f928b615.html