Google Bard: Google's New AI Chatbot Released
Google has finally released Bard, its competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, to a limited test group. The company is taking a different approach to access Bard, offering select insiders exclusive demos, while providing a waitlist link for others.
While waiting, it's important to note that the Bard logo on the official homepage reads "Bard Experiment." The FAQ page clarifies that Bard is an experimental project, and some of its responses may be inaccurate. Users are also warned that Bard may display incorrect or offensive information that does not represent Google's views.
The experience of using Google's Bard AI chatbot is both familiar and different for users accustomed to ChatGPT and Bing. In our early tests, Bard's writing skill did not entirely match its namesake, occasionally being repetitive in word choices when writing essays. However, it displayed high creativity and proficiency in generating ideas. Yet, this creativity sometimes led to the spontaneous inclusion of potentially messy details in speculative prompts. For instance, in our tests, we used the murder of Tupac Shakur as a prompt.
Notably, each response generated by Bard includes three drafts that users can toggle between. This feature is reminiscent of OpenAI's Dalle-2, which produces four images for each prompt. Presenting AI-generated content this way allows for less definitive outputs. Instead of Bard's response being final, a hallucination-riddled answer is accompanied by two other equally valid attempts to get it right.
Similar to Bing's AI chatbot, Bard occasionally provides citations for its responses. However, it also struggles, like other chatbots, when faced with sensitive questions. For example, it provided information about the Russian rationale for the annexation of Crimea but acknowledged the widespread condemnation of the Russian occupation.
Regarding monetization, The Wall Street Journal hints at Google's plans. Google Vice President Sissie Hsiao, who oversees Google Assistant, reportedly stated that early versions of Bard would not include ads. However, considering Google's substantial revenue from ad placements, totaling $162 billion last year, it is only a matter of time before your chatbot friend interjects during a conversation about Godzilla's atomic breath and suggests ways to save you 15 percent on car insurance.