OpenAI’s ChatGPT has become a sensation following its early debut. But it is now facing fierce competition from Google. The search giant has announced its conversational AI called Bard and will be powered by the company’s LaMDA or Language Model for Dialogue Applications. Google plans to integrate Bard into Google Search in the coming weeks.
Through a blog post, Alphabet’s very own Sundar Pichai introduced the latest developments the company has made in the AI field. However, the focus this time was on the new Google Bard. The new chatbot service or generative AI is comparable to ChatGPT, which is also the biggest rival it currently has, both are based on large language models.
The CEO added that Bard will source out data from the web to provide answers or deeper insights to users. The capabilities of large language models will be utilized to refine the information before presenting it in a more understandable format or beyond the basic web search results that you’re getting.
When can you try out Bard via Google Search
Bard is in the experimental stage but they are giving early access to developers and testers before fully rolling out to the public. Although it is in the testing phase, the results generated will be presented in the text box design on top of web links and cards. Users will have control of the result by giving a thumbs up or down as well as the option to generate another answer.
The lightweight model version of LaMDA will power Bard, which will require less computing capacity so that it can be deployed to a wider range of users. It was interesting to note that LaMDA was involved in an AI controversy where one of the developers alleges that Google’s language model established sentience or its own consciousness.
Bard vs ChatGPT—Who’s side are you on?
Bard is a direct rival to the popular ChatGPT from OpenAI. The latter is currently running as a free service but OpenAI intends to offer a subscription-based plan at $20 per month. One of the major backers, Microsoft, is also planning to add ChatGPT into its Bing search engine, which is a similar move to what Google is doing with Bard but to the Search.
Do you think Google has a bigger advantage in turning Bard into a successful conversational AI in the future? And how would you use chatbots in your daily lives? Let us know your thoughts.
