Google introduces its own AI chatbot in response to ChatGPT
Google is introducing its own AI tool called Bard. This tool appears to be intended as competition for OpenAI’s ChatGPT. There is no clarity about all capabilities yet, but users can ask targeted questions after which Bard provides answers with information.
Bard works on the basis of the Language Model for Dialogue Applications, or LaMDA. This long-standing conversational model allows for fluid conversations on a variety of topics, similar to how people converse with each other online, although this model is not publicly available. For Bard, Google is currently using a ‘lightweight model version of LaMDA’. As a result, less computing power is needed, more people can use it and Google hopes to get more feedback.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, describes Bard as an experimental AI service that aims to “combine the broad knowledge of the world with the power, intelligence and creativity of our great language models.” In addition, Bard also uses information from the web to arrive at ‘fresh’ answers that must be of high quality. With that, Pichai seems to suggest that Bard is also capable of answering questions about recent events; that’s one part that ChatGPT is currently missing.
A number of examples of practical questions are given for which users can use Google’s tool. For example, a question can be asked which discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope can be told to a nine-year-old child, after which Bard gives some point-by-point answers that actually seem to be geared to the knowledge of children of that age. Google also states that Bard can be used to compare two Oscar-nominated films or to propose lunch ideas based on the ingredients that the user has at home. Bard in the current version, as shown by Google, does not seem to be as developed as ChatGPT in the sense that it can be seen as a full-fledged chatbot.
Bard will be opened up to a test group, but the tool will become available to the wider public in the coming weeks. Pichai reports that Google will use external feedback along with internal testing to ensure that Bard’s answers meet high standards in areas such as quality and safety.
It is planned that certain AI features will soon also become part of Google Search. This should make it possible to display complex information and multiple perspectives simply and concisely, so that users can quickly understand the bigger picture. This may be an answer to alleged plans of competitor Microsoft. The Redmond-based company has already invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and would like to integrate ChatGPT into its Bing search engine and other Office components.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Google has enlisted the help of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to discuss the company’s AI strategy. The American medium wrote that Google managers felt the competitive pressure to set up their own tool that should be able to compete with ChatGPT. Pichai is said to have issued a ‘code red’ within the company after ChatGPT came out as a beta version in November last year. This code would mean that some products need to be tested, approved and ready for release more quickly. Bard’s current somewhat hurried-looking announcement seems to fit into this endeavor.