Poe introduces chatbot creation feature with simple text prompts

Poe, a platform for creating and interacting with chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs), has launched a new feature that lets anyone create their own chatbot with just a few words.

The feature was quietly rolled out this past Friday to all Poe users, allowing anyone to write a short text prompt and choose an existing LLM as a base for their new creation. The base can be either Claude Instant or ChatGPT, both of which are leading general-purpose conversational agents.

The user-generated prompt and the base LLM are then used to generate a new chatbot that can be customized and shared with others. Poe claims this method can produce a wide variety of chatbots for different purposes and personalities.

“We’ve seen a lot of great experimentation with prompts on LLMs both among the community on Poe and across the internet, and it’s amazing how much value prompting can unlock from language models,” said Adam D’Angelo, the founder of Quora, which owns and operates Poe. “We hope this new feature can help people who are talented at prompting share their ability with the rest of the world, and provide simple interfaces for everyone to get the most out of AI.”

To demonstrate the potential of the feature, Poe has launched several example bots that users can try out, such as PirateBot, which talks like a swashbuckling buccaneer; Roastmaster, which insults the user with witty comebacks; and Chefbot, which gives cooking tips and recipes.

According to D’Angelo, Poe offers several advantages for chatbot creators, such as a user-friendly interface that works across different devices and platforms, a unique URL for each bot that can be easily shared and accessed (such as poe.com/chefbot), a curated selection of the best bots for users to discover and follow and a cost-free service that covers the fees of using large language models.

D’Angelo also said that no coding skills are needed to create a chatbot with Poe and that the company is working on an API that would allow more advanced bot development and hosting. The API would essentially allow users to host a bot from a server they operate. Developers who are interested in joining the beta testing can reach out to developers@poe.com.

The proliferation of digital assistants and bots

This update to Poe is just the latest in a flurry of news about personalized AI chatbots in the past few weeks. Last month, announcements from many of the biggest names in the industry — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google — made waves with major product launches.

The update puts Poe directly in competition with Character.AI, another artificial intelligence startup that has attracted attention and funding for its ability to generate chatbots that can mimic different personalities, from celebrities to fictional characters.

Character.AI, which was founded by former Google developers, raised $150 million last month and reached a valuation of $1 billion, becoming one of the few unicorns in the industry.

Both Poe and Character.AI are tapping into a growing demand for personalized and immersive chatbot experiences that can entertain, educate and connect users with their favorite characters and brands. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global conversational AI market is expected to reach $13.9 billion by 2028.