Ever since the world knew about ChatGPT, technology companies around the world have been competing to develop generative AI, but when we talk about AI, we often think of programs from abroad from international giants, but we don't talk much about Thai AI.
However, if you ask. Dr. Kobkrit Wiriyayuthakorn President of the Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurs Association of Thailand ( Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneur Association of Thailand - AIEAT He believes that Thailand's AI will definitely be able to fight with foreign ones punch-in-punch because Thailand is currently developing Large Language Models (LLMs) called OpenThaiGPT The results of the trial showed that it was as effective as ChatGPT.
Insiderly.Ai took this opportunity to talk to Dr. Kobkrit on many issues, including his personal interest in technology. How can the operation of AIEAT and OpenThaiGPT help turn the country's fortunes around? If you want to know, Find out in this interview.
From childhood interest in computers to becoming a thesis on AI
Dr. Kobkrit said that before becoming the president of the AIEAT Association. He was just an ordinary kid who became interested in technology because he played with computers in his mother's office.
"When I was young, when I went to see my mother at the office after school, I would be bored at first, until I found a computer that no one was using, out of curiosity, I tried to play with it, and then an accountant taught me how to use it.
From the beginning of that day, it became a lasting impression, making him fully committed to this field. When he grew up, he decided to continue his studies at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, or known as "Engineering Inter Thammasat".
Until 2007, Prof. Dr. Thanarak Theerakong, former president of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Thailand (AIAT), invited him to do a thesis to find out how to make AI distinguish the name of a person of any nationality.
And what he didn't expect was that the research became a guide for him to be fascinated by this technology, so he could never withdraw from the industry again.
AI Scholar Who Knows Business to Drive AIEAT
After graduating from SIIT in 2008, "Mr. Kobkrit" was still interested in technology, so he decided to continue his studies until he completed his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence in Knowledge Science from the Japan Advance Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan. This time, he did research to find out how to make AI more creative.
After graduating from the highest level of study. At first, he aimed to become a university professor and teach in the field he had studied, but the path was diverted. "Dr. Kobkrit" faces the startup industry. Learn about doing business in Silicon Valley before returning to Thailand. Take what you learn and try it yourself. One of the jobs he does is an application about hailing a taxi. The same as Grab.
Because of his knowledge of business, his love and interest in AI, he became one of the key defenders of the founding. "Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurs Association of Thailand" or AIEAT to help elevate Thai entrepreneurs to make the most of cutting-edge technology.
Dr. Kobkrit Explained that the names of AIEAT and AIAT may look similar, but the objectives of the two associations are quite different.
"AIAT will mainly focus on building people and AI scholars. Many professors encouraged me to help establish a new association, AIEAT, to promote and drive the artificial intelligence business in Thailand, especially startup businesses, to the regional and global levels."
"Because we believe that the future economic system will inevitably be intertwined with the use of AI, if anyone uses AI well, it will make a significant economic difference compared to other countries. President of AIEAT Association
Dream far and reach it.
Since the establishment of AIEAT and the position of President of the Association. Dr. Kobkrit said that he has done many things to push the Thai AI industry to compete with world-class AI. From sharing useful resources together, to talking about partnering with global technology companies such as AWS, etc.
But among all the work that has been driven, it can be said that the creation of an LLM called OpenThaiGPT is the biggest and most challenging project of the association.
Briefly, OpenChatGPT is a Gen AI that gathers Thai knowledge from various sources in one place. There is no obligation. If anyone wants to fine-tune it to their own version or support new services, they can do it, such as making it an organizational chatbot, etc.
However, Dr. Kobkrit said that in mid-2023, he has just updated OpenThaiGPT with a capacity of 7 billion for Thai people to try and use, and is about to launch OpenThaiGPT with a size of 13 billion, which is almost 2-3 times smarter than before.
In addition, the association is training 70 billion OpenThaiGPT in supercomputers, making it the smartest AI and will be released as a New Year's gift to the whole Thai people in early 2024.
"We believe that OpenThaiGPT will be the smartest Thai AI in the world, and the next step is to develop LLMs in neighboring languages, namely Burmese, Lao, and Cambodian, so that foreigners from all three countries in Thailand can use them. We can compete in artificial intelligence technology on a global scale with pride." The President of the Association aims to
Good AI This is caused by the consumption of quality data.
Many people may wonder if Thai is a language that is already spoken only by Thai people. Does it have to be the case to boast that OpenThaiGPT is the best Thai AI? However, from the findings of Dr. Kobkrit and the AIEAT Association, Many countries are trying to make Gen AI that supports the Thai language, such as China, to directly hit the Thai market.
However, the association is confident that those programs will never be able to compete with OpenThaiGPT because Thai people know better than any other nation where to access quality Thai language resources.
"Good AI is born from quality data. If we want our AI to win, we need to win. We need higher quality data. You have to collect, clean, and train your data well, which will increase your chances of winning. As for brain size, the size of the model is the second most important."
"For example, if we use AI to help answer tax questions, we will let the AI learn information from the IRS's website, let it read examples, read articles, and fine-tune it to become a tax expert."
"Or if you want to become a legal expert, you can learn from each law book and then bring a real lawyer to give feedback to help you tune it better. If the AI answers well, it will give a high score. If the answer is not good, you will get a low score, and the lawyer will help you with information on how to actually answer so that it can answer better. It can be practical in the end."
Once AI is good, users don't forget to be good at it.
The further AI evolves, the more it will be able to do so. Dr. Kobkrit is confident that it will help increase productivity and help ease the burden on humans. We don't have to work as hard as before.
"Before a programmer wrote a project, it took up to 6 months, but from now on, AI will help complete 6 projects in just one month." Dr. Kobkrit Trust
And when AI helps increase productivity and increase business productivity, what will follow is that the economy will improve. As a result, the price of products is also cheaper. People can spend more, which is a very good way to help solve the problem of inflation in another way.
But among the advantages there are also disadvantages. Dr. Kobkrit admits that AI will definitely take people's jobs.
"People who use AI have an advantage. Companies that do not adapt will be at a disadvantage and lose. From now on, AI will replace humans, especially tasks that need to be done repeatedly, which is a task that artificial intelligence is good at. It can be done quickly. I can do it all the time, and I don't complain."
"Or to put it simply, AI will disrupt people who are specialists or people who have aptitudes and expertise in a particular field. The people who will survive are those who are generalists or people who know how to adapt to many aptitudes."
Prepare yourself well 3-5 years from now, AI will rule the world!
When you try to give Dr. Kobkrit How do you predict how AI will change the world in the next 3-5 years? Dr. Kobkrit It is predicted that there are 5 things that will definitely happen as follows.
1. There will be a robot housekeeper to help people in every house.
2. Communication through the keyboard will disappear. We will use more voice and gestures. Technology will leap even further. Many new high-tech devices will be born, and the world will enter the real Metaverse.
3. Simple human tasks will be replaced by robots, especially services that will mainly use automation.
4. The competition for artificial intelligence will be even more fierce, just like during the Cold War when many countries competed to go to the moon. Every country will do its best to show its power to its competitors and be afraid.
5. The world will change quickly and strongly, we will get a very good machine brain and win over all humans on this planet.
If anyone is still hesitant about how to use AI, how to survive in the future? The only advice that the President of AIEAT Association has for you is to learn and practice it from now on.
"You should practice using it, practicing as a Prompt Engineer, or practicing entering commands, don't think that we can do anything faster than AI because AI is already faster, even drafting tasks, it helps us fill it out immediately, reducing time a lot."
"People don't know how to use it, so they have to practice using it, try it, it definitely helps more than you think." President of AIEAT concluded
