Google AI Bard – The ChatGPT Killer

By Ashwini Nathany

Posted on February 10, 2023

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google recently unveiled the Google Bard AI chatbot.

OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT has been creating waves since its release last November.  Within Google, a code red was declared and Google scrambled to catch up to ChatGPT. 

Google had been reluctant to release AI-based chatbots to the public as Chatbots learn their skills by analyzing vast amounts of text posted to the internet, they cannot distinguish between fact and fiction and can generate text that is false or biased against a certain section of people. Google was concerned about its reputation and hence lagged behind in the AI race.

Only after the massive hype of its rival OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT did google speed up its research on AI technology. Issuing a code red meant using all the resources to ensure the quick release of its AI products. The initial version was Google Apprentice Bard AI and after the code red alert, the new version is simply called Google AI Bard. 

The Google Bard AI chatbot is the latest advancement in conversational artificial intelligence. This cutting-edge AI technology aims to revolutionize the information-gathering process and how we use search engines. It uses a set of deep learning algorithms known as “large language models,” the Google Bard AI chatbot can respond to questionnaires provided via text. The chatbot is built on LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) technology and is programmed to use the web to find the most “recent” answers to questions. An experimental conversational AI service developed by Google, Bard AI learns from its encounters with humans to improve its performance.

LaMDA is “the language model” that people were afraid of. After a Google employee believed LaMDA was conscious, the AI became a topic of discussion due to the impression it gave off in its answers. In addition, the engineer hypothesized that LaMDA, like humans, expresses its anxieties through communication. However now we know that it is a statistical method for predicting the following words in a series based on the previous ones. LaMDA’s innovativeness lies in the fact that it may stimulate dialogue in a looser fashion than is allowed by task-based responses. So that the conversation can flow freely from one topic to another, a conversational language model needs to be familiar with concepts such as Multimodal user intent, reinforcement learning, and suggestions. By launching as a lightweight version of LaMDA in Google Search, the artificial intelligence chatbot Google Bard has the potential to revolutionize the way people find and use information online.

Sundar Pichai has expressed his enthusiasm for adapting cutting-edge AI research and development to real-world problems. He said  “It’s a really exciting time to be working on these technologies as we translate deep research and breakthroughs into products that truly help people. That’s the journey we’ve been on with large language models. Two years ago we unveiled next-generation language and conversation capabilities powered by our Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA for short). We’ve been working on an experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA, that we’re calling Bard. And today, we’re taking another step forward by opening it up to trusted testers ahead of making it more widely available to the public in the coming weeks.”

“Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models. It draws on information from the web to provide fresh, high-quality responses. Bard can be an outlet for creativity, and a launchpad for curiosity, helping you to explain new discoveries from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to a 9-year-old, or learn more about the best strikers in football right now, and then get drills to build your skills.”

“We’re releasing it initially with our lightweight model version of LaMDA. This much smaller model requires significantly less computing power, enabling us to scale to more users, and allowing for more feedback. We’ll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information. We’re excited for this phase of testing to help us continue to learn and improve Bard’s quality and speed.”

AI can be helpful in gaining perspectives and synthesizing insights for questions where there’s no one right answer. It’s a search that distils complex information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats, so you can quickly understand the big picture. AI has the potential to improve and revolutionize many other industries.

Google Bard AI vs ChatGPT

The main difference between Google Bard AI and ChatGPT is Google Bard AI’s ability to take real-time events into account when generating its responses. Google’s Bard AI has yet to make its appearance. But here’s what you should expect to be different from ChatGPT, according to the recent updates:

• Google Apprentice Bard AI will be able to answer real-time questions. You need to make one minor adjustment to your Google settings to get your regular search results when using Google Bard AI. In ChatGPT, only text responses from data which is prior to 2021 are returned.
• Google Apprentice Bard is based on LaMDA. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is based on GPT.
• ChatGPT has its own plagiarism detector called AI Text Classifier. This feature is not yet available for Apprentice Bard AI.
• Google Apprentice Bard AI is, for now, completely free. OpenAI recently launched its paid plan to users called ChatGPT Plus.

If you are luckily chosen as a beta tester, all you have to do to use the Google AI chatbot is to open the Google app on your smartphone and tap on the chatbot icon. Like ChatGPT, enter your prompt and hit enter!

Google AI Bard – The ChatGPT Killer