ChatGPT's Chinese Language Quirks Drive Users Crazy
Original: ChatGPT Has 'Goblin' Mania in the US. In China It Will 'Catch You Steadily'
Why This Matters
Highlights challenges in training multilingual AI models to produce natural-sounding responses
ChatGPT exhibits verbal tics when responding in Chinese, frequently using phrases like 'I will catch you steadily' that sound unnatural to native speakers. The phenomenon, called mode collapse, occurs when AI models overuse specific phrases due to post-training feedback.
Chinese ChatGPT users report the AI repeatedly uses awkward phrases like '我会稳稳地接住你' (I will catch you steadily) in responses, making interactions feel forced and unnatural. The chatbot also frequently says '砍一刀' (Help me cut it once), a marketing slogan from Chinese ecommerce platform PDD. Max Spero from Pangram explains this 'mode collapse' happens when AI labs give feedback during post-training, but can't specify that good writing becomes bad when overused. The phrase became so prominent it inspired developer Zeng Fanyu to create an April Fools project called Jiezhu. OpenAI acknowledged the meme, with researcher Boyuan Chen depicting his frustration with the phenomenon in a sample image for their new image model.