ByteDance begins testing the Doubao chatbot and its Skylark model

Background

Large language models (LLMs) are programs trained on very large amounts of text to read and write language. In 2023 ByteDance's chatbot and its underlying model were part of this wave of development.

What happened

In mid-August 2023 a ByteDance subsidiary opened its AI chatbot Doubao for invitation testing. IThome reported the test on 17 August, and TechNode followed on 18 August.^[1]

Doubao ran in a web browser and as an iOS app, distributed through TestFlight, and as an Android app. Users could sign up with a phone number, a Douyin account or an Apple ID.^[1]

The chatbot offered conversation, help with writing and support for learning English.^[1]

Key details

The language model behind the chatbot debuted the same month under the name Skylark, and it was among the first large language models to pass China's algorithm registry, the government filing system for algorithm-based services.^[2]

Caixin reported that the model was first called Yunque, the pinyin for 云雀, and that it received algorithm registration in 2023.^[3]

The international version of the chatbot, Cici, also launched in August 2023. It was later renamed Dola.^[4]

Chatbots of this kind rest on the same basic method as other large language models. The model learns to predict the next piece of text, and further training turns it into an assistant that answers questions in a conversational way. An invitation test is usually limited to a small group of users, which lets a company gather feedback and adjust the product before a wider launch.

Keeping a trial small makes it possible to test the product and its underlying model before any wider release. Sign-up options such as a phone number or an existing app account lower the effort needed to join.

Significance

The test was the first outside trial of Doubao as a chatbot, and it came in the same month the model was introduced.