Google has launched a new chatbot tool named Bard, aimed at competing with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, announced in a blog post that Bard will first be available to “trusted testers” and plans to make it public in the coming weeks.
“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,” Pichai wrote.
Like ChatGPT, Bard is built on a large language model trained on vast amounts of data to generate responses to user prompts.
The announcement comes as Google faces its most significant risk in years, as the attention on ChatGPT has prompted Google’s management to declare a “code red” situation for its search business.
“AI is the most profound technology we are working on today. Whether it’s helping doctors detect diseases earlier or enabling people to access information in their own language, AI helps people, businesses and communities unlock their potential. And it opens up new opportunities that could significantly improve billions of lives,” Pichai added.
The AI-powered tool is capable of being used to plan events, make comparisons, and provide lunch ideas, among other things. Pichai also mentioned that AI-powered features will soon be rolling out on Google’s search tool.
However, experts have warned that chatbots trained on data online may perpetuate biases and spread misinformation.