Google Bard: Will it Rival ChatGPT?

OpenAI enjoyed huge success when it first announced ChatGPT to the general public. An artificial intelligence-powered chatbot capable of generating human-like conversations, OpenAI broke new ground by demonstrating the power of machine learning and how it translates to day-to-day use. As competition heats up, Google Bard is looking to disrupt the market and provide a seemingly more capable solution.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a big announcement in Q1 of 2023, opening Bard for early testing to see how it stacks up against the competition. The question now arises, is Bard better than ChatGPT? Keep reading to learn whether the new kid on the block is ready to take names!

What is Google Bard?

Bard is Google’s answer to the ever-popular ChatGPT, which is an AI-powered text generation software. While generative AIs excel at producing video, audio, and imagery, Bard, as an AI chatbot, focuses on crafting text that responds to your inquiries naturally and conversationally.

Google Bard falls under the umbrella term of a large language model (LLM). This neural network has undergone extensive training using vast amounts of text data to master the intricacies of natural language processing. However, the training data itself presents a limitation, which is why ChatGPT relies on somewhat outdated statistics to answer queries (ChatGPT uses data only up to 2021).

Bard has one trick up its sleeve that may prove advantageous to ChatGPT, and that is Google Search integration. This gives Bard an edge in terms of providing up-to-date answers by utilizing real-time data on current events to supplement its LLM training.

How does Google Bard work?

Many were surprised when Google announced Bard, thinking the software giant rushed the development to immediately compete with ChatGPT. However, the foundations for ChatGPT and other LLMs were initially laid by Google when it made its Transformer deep learning model accessible to the public in 2017. Bard, powered by Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA), emerged later in 2021. Although Bard shares a common lineage with Google’s LLM, its development spanned several years.

Bard has been designed by Google to enhance the existing Knowledge Graph Cards featured in search results. While Knowledge Graph Cards provide concise answers to straightforward queries, Bard’s purpose is to address NORA questions—searches that lack a single definitive answer, as Google terms them.

To achieve this, Bard employs LaMDA language models to comprehend the context and nuances of your questions. Utilizing datasets rich in dialogues, LaMDA surpasses the limitations faced by conventional search engines in understanding colloquialisms and subtleties. Subsequently, Bard leverages information gathered from across the web to construct an answer, delivering a conversational response akin to that of a human. The primary objective of Bard, and all AI chatbots, is to furnish high-quality responses.

Presently, Bard exists as an independent utility, separate from Google Search. By engaging in a conversation with this AI, your session retains the memory of previous questions, allowing Bard to provide increasingly refined answers based on contextual knowledge. Additionally, if Bard’s responses seem inaccurate, you can prompt the chatbot for clarification, and it will promptly correct any errors while offering apologies.

What are the advantages of Bard over ChatGPT?

While ChatGPT is more popular than Google Bard, that doesn’t mean it has no imperfections. Google Bard excels in other areas that may influence users to prefer it over ChatGPT, and here are a couple of examples:

• User interface – Bard’s user interface is more streamlined compared to ChatGPT, allowing for a more seamless experience. You can edit your questions after seeking a response and Bard prepares multiple variations of answers for you to select.
  
• Updated information – Since ChatGPT only has access to data up to 2021, it may not be the ideal solution for users who wish to pull relevant information from current events. Google Bard harnesses the power of search engines to obtain data and can do so with reliable accuracy.

• Free-flowing conversations – ChatGPT is known for processing large amounts of text, while Bard functions more like a natural conversation tool. Because Bard uses Google’s LaMDA, its responses are more human-like compared to ChatGPT.

Is Google Bard available now?

While Google Bard is in its experimental phase, users can explore its text generation capabilities by signing in using their Google account. If you want to test Bard, you can visit this link. 

Keep in mind there are limitations and peculiarities when using Bard. As of recent testing, Bard functions more like Siri or Alexa in that it will fetch short answers to your queries, unlike ChatGPT which is capable of delivering detailed responses. The good thing about Bard is that it’s completely free to use, while ChatGPT offers paid plans for users to unlock its full potential.

Though Bard does not currently have a dedicated mobile app, accessing the tool through your smartphone’s browser app is easy enough. Furthermore, if you are a Google Pixel user, there will be an upcoming  Bard widget, which will provide immediate access to the tool. While no official release date has been announced, the Bard widget will extend beyond Pixel devices and become available to other Android users.

Conclusion

Google Bard represents a significant leap forward in the realm of AI chatbots and generative AIs. Through its integration with LaMDA and its natural language processing capabilities, Bard seeks to address complex queries that lack a definitive answer. While still in its early stages, Bard showcases immense potential and is poised to revolutionize the way we interact with search engines.