Google Releases Bard: A Competitor of ChatGPT That Lets You Collaborate With Generative AI

ChatGPT has become one of the most influential online services globally. It garnered one million users within its first week of launch, and within two months, it amassed 100 million users, setting a record as the fastest network in history to acquire users. Its success disrupted the landscape of communication services and spurred Google to respond actively.

Google launched Bard on March 21, 2023, as a generative dialogue AI based on a large language model (LLM). It is currently available only in the US and UK markets during the experimental phase. Unlike its popular competitor, ChatGPT, Bard has access to current information from the internet and offers a “Google it” button for search purposes. Additionally, Bard credits its sources of factual information, such as Wikipedia. However, Google cautioned that Bard has limitations and may share misinformation or exhibit bias. This is because it learns from real-world data, which includes existing biases and stereotypes, thereby making it possible for false information and biases to appear in its responses.

AI chatbots are computer programs designed to answer questions online using natural, human-like language. They can produce a wide range of content, from speeches and marketing copy to computer code and student essays. OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, reported that within a week of its November 2022 launch, the AI chatbot had already gained over one million users. Microsoft invested billions of dollars in ChatGPT and integrated it into its search engine Bing last month. Additionally, Microsoft has announced plans to bring a version of the technology to its office applications such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

In contrast, Google has been more cautious and slower to enter the generative AI competition with its version called Bard. The initial launch of Bard will only be available in the US and UK, and interested users must register to try it out. Bard is derived from Google’s previous language model, Lambda, which was never fully released to the public. However, it drew great interest when one of the engineers involved stated its responses were so convincing that he believed it to be sentient. Google denied the claims and fired the engineer.

According to a BBC article, Jack Krawczyk, a senior product director at Google, has referred to Bard as an “experiment” and hopes it will be used to boost creativity. He gave an example of how he used Bard to plan his child’s birthday party, where it suggested a theme based on his child’s interests, found a venue, and recommended party games and food. Krawczyk emphasized that large language models like Bard are meant to help humans unlock their creativity rather than replace them. Bard can access current information and explain news stories, unlike ChatGPT, which only knows up to 2021. The article notes that Bard has safeguards to prevent it from sharing offensive or harmful information, although these measures are not foolproof.

Google announced Bard in February following the success of ChatGPT. Despite being a leader in AI technology, Google has faced challenges in shipping products based on its research due to organizational dysfunction and concerns that AI technology could potentially harm the company’s profitable core businesses. In 2017, Google invented the “transformer” technology, which became the “T” in “GPT.”

Google has announced its plans to enhance Bard and introduce new features, such as refining the code, expanding language and country support, and incorporating additional models. While Google welcomes feedback from users testing Bard, the company has not specified a specific timeline for these updates.

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