In a celebration of its 24th year in the industry, the voice intelligence giant, iFlytek, has unveiled two technological advancements. The Spark App and the iFlytek Spark Mini Program, both derived from its Spark AI model, have been launched on Android systems.

Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFlytek, stated, "We aim not only to pay homage to and catch up with OpenAI, but also to innovate independently at the source." He further added, "The new era of general artificial intelligence will be a grand historical process and not achieved overnight. Hence, we need to possess both the ambition for short-term challenges and the perseverance of long-termism."

While the newly introduced Spark App and Mini Program are currently available in a trial version, users can use them for free once their application receives approval. The interface of the apps allows users to converse with the AI using either typed or voice-to-text input. The Spark bot is capable of engaging in multiple dialogue rounds. Previous dialogues are catalogued under "Historical Dialogues", while answers can be read out loud in various voices at different speeds, offering a personalized user experience.

An additional highlight of the anniversary celebration was the introduction of the AI-powered spoken language practice app, "Spark Language Companion". It enables users to hold vocal conversations with an AI virtual English teacher. Furthermore, users can opt for video calling with the AI teacher. The app provides valuable services like grammar correction and voice scoring for spoken inputs. A testing version of this app is also currently available.

Simultaneously, the company has taken strides in pushing the boundaries of AI by exploring advanced development in the field. The National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Intelligence, undertaken by iFlytek, is already making its mark in several domains, such as brain-like intelligence, large-scale neural network models, and game intelligence, by exploring potential pathways and opportunities for frontier cross-research.

iFlytek's Spark Cognitive Model, initially launched on May 6, is a reflection of the company's dedication to the progress of AI. The model enhances learning machines and transcription tools like "iFlytek Hear" capabilities, and the next update is planned for August 15. This update promises to enhance the code capability and multi-modal interaction ability of the Spark Model. By October 24, at the developer's conference, iFlytek aspires to supersede the level of GPT-3.5 with its Spark Model.

The AI market has been a hive of activity over the past six months with a variety of players like Baidu, Alibaba, JD.com, and ByteDance launching large models. Numerous AI companies, including SenseTime, 4th Paradigm, iFlytek, and Mobvoi have also joined the fray.