Google could have launched an artificial intelligence similar to Bard long before ChatGPT. The reason for the delay? Concerns about the dangers brought by this technology. A former Mountain View firm says Google has nothing to fear from the OpenAI chatbot.
The eyes of the whole world are on artificial intelligence. ChatGPT, used in particular to create an impressive version of Skyrim, remains at the top of the chatbots. But Google already has its response called Bard which was entitled to its share of novelties. If the European Union cares about the dangers brought by artificial intelligence, this is also the case of the Mountain View firm. It is for this reason that the launch of its chatbot has been delayed.
Read > ChatGPT, Bard: for the boss of Google, AI requires the same regulations as nuclear weapons
Launch delayed due to security issues
Google has been working on a conversational agent since mid-2021. Long before ChatGPT was launched by OpenIA at the end of 2022 with the (slightly disproportionate) media tidal wave that we are currently experiencing. But Bard’s launch could have been earlier than its rival. This is what Blake Lemoine, former member of the Responsible AI team at Google, reveals in an interview.
ChatGPT ahead of Google? Not really according to Blake Lemoine. The engineer claims that the Mountain View firm is more technologically advanced, Bard was not pushed to the limit. For him, Google delayed the launch of Bard because of the dangers brought by artificial intelligence: ” They were set to launch something in the fall of 2022, either around the same time as ChatGPT or just before. Then, partly because of security concerns I raised, they removed it ».
Google could therefore have released Bard, or at least an artificial intelligence-like product available for testing, two years ago. But the engineers were worried possible sexist, racist or political messages.
To read > Google Bard is deployed on Gmail and Docs, what is Google’s ChatGPT capable of?
Is artificial intelligence dangerous?
There are a lot of ethical issues pointed out. Especially in the face of Microsoft’s haste assumed by Bill Gates in the development of ChatGPT. Several artificial intelligence experts are calling for it to be put on hold. Google CEO Sundar Pichai even calls for global regulation with treaties similar to those concerning the use of nuclear weapons. The man even admits that this technology the ” kept awake at night because of its potential negative effects. Reassuring!
