Get Ready for Bard: Google’s Answer to ChatGPT
Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has created an enormous impact. The conversational AI chatbot launched by OpenAI can do much more than answer questions. It can help developers code, students simplify complex lessons & even help musicians compose new music. With ChatGPT completely revolutionizing the way users search & find information on the internet, it has ruffled the feathers of many online industry giants. Google, which holds a near-monopoly on internet search & marketing, was significantly impacted by the chatbot and had to play catch-up to ensure they didn’t lose out.
Introducing ‘Bard’ from Google
To compete with ChatGPT, Google released its own conversational AI program named Bard. It uses Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) and it uses all the sites indexed by Google to generate its responses. Bard is currently open to trusted testers who are selected by Google & it is expected to be released to the general public by the end of February.
During the announcement, Google said Bard would primarily focus on helping users get instant answers to their search queries. The company will be setting high-quality standards, using external & internal testing/feedback, to ensure accuracy & safety. Since Bard is coming into a market that’s currently dominated by ChatGPT (which is an irony considering how Google dominates the Search Engine market), it needs to perform exceptionally well to disrupt the market.
Bard Vs ChatGPT
ChatGPT uses GPT-3, a large language model & it was trained on a dataset that OpenAI sourced till 2021. When users ask the conversational AI questions, it generates brief snippets of information from its data repository. We can also attribute ChatGPT’s popularity to the fact that it offers users a fun & intriguing way to get answers or learn new queries. Let’s look at some differences between Bard & ChatGPT:
Google’s Bard | OpenAI’s ChatGPT |
|---|---|
| Uses Google’s LaMDA. | Uses OpenAI’s GPT-3 large language model. |
| In the Beta Testing phase (open to closed testers). A free-to-use option is planned for release by February. | Only OpenAI-approved users can access the free-to-use plan. A paid plan ‘ChatGPT Plus’ has also been launched. |
| Uses Google’s extensive repository of indexed pages as a source for generating answers. So, it has access to the latest information. | Uses a set of data that was sourced till 2021 Generating responses. Although later updates are being planned, the responses are currently limited. |
| Google plans to allow third-party developers to use Bard’s code in the future. This can result in various creative applications. | OpenAI has provided exclusive access to ChatGPT’s source codes to Microsoft. However, it allows other companies to use the AI system. |
| From the limited testing & announcements, we can see that there are no citations for Bard’s responses. | While ChatGPT doesn’t include citations, Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing AI cites all the sources used to generate a response. |
We are currently at the precipice of a major revolution, especially in the online search and marketing domains. The introduction of ChatGPT has pushed several internet giants to look for conversational AI assistants and chatbots to modernize the way they operate. Bard is just one of the many AI systems that are either announced or under development currently. If Google wishes to compete with OpenAI, it cannot afford any missteps in the testing and implementation of Bard.
Misinformation Warning:
With an AI war on the horizon, we feel that it is our responsibility to inform you that AI-generated content is not accurate. Do not take AI-generated responses at face value as there are several cases of misinformation. Several users have noted that ChatGPT cannot be trusted to give accurate answers, especially when you’re working on case studies & other critical pieces. Testers have also seen Bard generate wrong information (even after having access to a large number of indexed pages). So, it’s always better to fact-check your responses.
1 Response
[…] latest guideline modifications & the creation of Bard (its new AI search assistant) show us that it doesn’t discourage content from generative AI & actually encourages […]