Testing, testing…Google has unveiled the experimental/testing phase of its response to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bard.
What is Bard?
Bard is an experimental conversational AI service, powered by Google’s LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications). This technology was released by Google in 2021 and the company has been working on incorporating it into searched queries to better understand user intent and adaptive conversation.
“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.”
– Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google & Alphabet
When can we use Bard?
Google is opening Bard up to trusted testers ahead of the general public release in the coming weeks. It’s unclear who exactly are these “trusted testers” and how one can go about becoming part of the experimental phase. Nonetheless, Google will use their input and findings to ensure a smooth rollout to the public.
What does Bard look like?
We were able to find the initial first look of what Bard will appear within the Google search field:
Google shared an example of how Bard would respond to “what new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9 year old about?” See below:
What else you need to know
This comes just mere weeks after Microsoft’s plans to use the AI chat behind ChatGPT to answer some search queries instead of simply showing a list of links. In fact, Google declared and “all-hands on deck” response to this announcement. We knew this moment was coming, it was just a matter of when.
“The timing of Bard’s testing phase isn’t lost on me. One has to wonder how prepared Google is to counter Microsoft’s technology in such a quick timeframe while making sure it doesn’t make major missteps. If history has shown us anything, Google typically creates the technology or product, and Microsoft then follows suit. It is interesting that for the first time in recent memory (aside from MSAN), Microsoft will be the first-to-market of the two search engines.”
– Sarah Kernan, Director of Paid Search, Chacka Marketing
“It’s an interesting turn of the tables with Google’s Bard announcement seemingly being a reactionary move. Google is used to being in the forefront of tech releases and now for the first time, in a long time (possibly ever?), they have to counter someone else’s move. Personally, Microsoft beating Google to the punch is a refreshing change.”
– Marc Cerniglio, Data & Automation Lead, Chacka Marketing
Chacka even caught a sneak peek of the testing phase of the Microsoft search interface using OpenAI’s GPT-4, which claims to be even faster than ChatGPT:
If you want to learn all about Microsoft’s announcement, check out our recent blog which includes hot takes from some of our leadership team.
Make sure to stay tuned to the Chacka blog for more updates on Bard and ChatGPT.
