Tech giant Google has launched their own artificial intelligence chatbot called Bard which could rival OpenAI's Chatbot GPT.
Invitations to test the new AI were sent on Tuesday, allowing people to join a wishlist on bard.google.com to take the new AI for a spin.
Bard requires a Google account and is only available to users over the age of 18 and is currently only open to residents of the UK or the US.
AI's like Bard search the internet to give answers to questions, by finding the information and rather than just providing links to webpages like a seah engine AI's relay answers back in a human-like response.
Or as Bard puts it
"I am a large language model, also known as a conversational AI or chatbot trained to be informative and comprehensive. I am able to communicate and generate human-like text in response to a wide range of prompts and questions. For example, I can provide summaries of factual topics or create stories."
OpenAI's Chatbot GPT has been making waves in the tech industry with its remarkable abilities since its release last year.
While AIs are Impressive, they aren't at SkyNet levels just yet and currently have some hefty limitations.
For example, Chat GPT data only goes up to 2021, so unaware of current events, like the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Bard and Chat GTP also carry a disclaimer that the information given may not be correct or that it may give inappropriate responses.
Unlike Chat GTP if you are unsure of the information Bard has provided you can you the “Google it” button to confirm Bard’s responses.
Bard is also currently unable to remember things said to it earlier in a conversation "Bard’s ability to hold context is purposefully limited for now. As Bard continues to learn, its ability to hold context during longer conversations will improve."
The AI can also only speak English but Google plan to make Bard able to speak "as many languages as possible" in the future.
This hasn't stopped users have used chatbots to write code, plan emails and write poems and essays just to name a few of their uses.
Bard is still in the experimental stages but like all AI technology Bard will only improve with feedback and based on its interactions with users. Bard also asks you to "rate responses and flag anything that may be offensive or unsafe"
Bard isn't Google's first foray into AI, two years ago Google released LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) and AI capable of fluid, multi-turn dialogue. They continued to develop this by launching AI Test Kitchen last year, where people could learn about, and get hands-on experience with LaMDA.
Even the Google Pixel 7 Series phones use artificial intelligence to perform tasks like instantly translating messages and videos.
User interaction and feedback will help improve and evolve the nascent AI and hopefully, Bard will be given the time to learn and grow.
However, there are already concerns that it may not get the chance to live up to its potential given Google's reputation for starting new projects and later killing them off like Google Stadia, Google Currents, Chatbase and many others documented on killedbygoogle.com
There are also concerns that the advancement of AI could be used to plagiarise, especially among students or it could be used to spread misinformation.
But for now, Google AI has a potentially bright future given how ubiquitous Google's search engine is in our everyday lives, the incorporation of Bard's capabilities into this powerful tool could see AI advance to Sci-Fi levels of intelligence sooner than we think.
