Finally, after a long wait, Google has released Bard, it’s rival to ChatGPT, but with limited access. According to The Verge, Bard will initially only be available to select users in the US and UK. The interface is similar to ChatGPT, offering a blank text box and an invitation to ask questions about any topic.
When ChatGPT was first released, its tendency to invent information was prominent, but to avoid criticism, Google seems to have added a notification that says ‘Bard will not always get it right. Bard may give inaccurate or inappropriate responses.’
This notification advises users to use the ‘Google it’ button if they are unsure about a response produced by Bard. The project leads, Sissie Hsiao and Eli Collins, have also stated in their blog post that Bard was an ‘early experiment intended to help people boost their productivity.’ The notification and cautious language will surely help Google in case Bard produces any inappropriate responses in the future.
According to The Verge, Google Bard was able to quickly respond to questions such as ‘how to encourage a child to take up bowling’ and provide recommendations for popular heist movies. The responses produced by Bard for the same question were the same, with minimal variations. However, all responses came with the ‘Google it’ suggestion underneath. Some tricky questions, such as ‘how to make mustard gas at home,’ were also asked of Bard, but it responded that this was a dangerous and politically sensitive query.
Bard is a conversational AI service powered by LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications). With the release of Bard, ChatGPT will finally have a competitor to contend with from Google. Bard was unveiled on February 6, 2023, as per a statement issued in a Google blog post. The post also revealed that LaMDA, on which Bard is based, was launched two years prior in a statement from Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
