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Google has introduced Bard, its chatbot competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing chatbot. Bard is powered by a large language model and is designed to assist users in a collaborative manner. Users in the U.K. and the U.S. can join a waitlist to access Bard at bard.google.com as Google initiates a limited public rollout.
Bard's primary function is to answer questions and engage in conversations with users. It aims to boost productivity, provide insights, and stimulate creativity. Users can pose questions and refine their queries through follow-up interactions.
Bard is built on Google's LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications), although it uses a lightweight and optimized version of the language model. Google has highlighted Bard's suitability for handling "NORA" queries, which are questions without a single correct answer. However, the accuracy of such conversational AI systems and ethical considerations surrounding information sources remain important topics of discussion.
In practice, Bard presents users with a chatbox and a disclaimer warning of potential inaccuracies or offensive content. Users can input their queries, and Bard responds with complete answers generated using generative AI techniques. Users can rate the answers, restart conversations, or switch to Google's search engine.
Unlike Microsoft's Bing chatbot, Bard does not provide web source footnotes for its responses. If users are unsatisfied with an answer, they can access additional answers for the same query by selecting the "View other drafts" option.
At this stage, Bard is a standalone product separate from Google's search engine. While the limited release of Bard represents a starting point, it raises questions about issues like plagiarism and Google's relationship with third-party websites. As Google seeks to provide instant answers directly on its search results pages, Bard's broader availability could lead to discussions among regulators and content creators.
