- Google unveiled on Monday February 6, 2023 a conversational AI called “Bard”
- The firm presents Bard as a cat similar to ChatGPT, capable of generating answers to all your requests in a clear and synthetic way
- For now, Bard is accessible in closed beta
2023 will be the year of AI par excellence. The launch of ChatGPT really sent a strident warning signal to all of Big Tech. With ChatGPT, it’s all the core business of Google enters under the threat of a competitor. And even worse than that: the essence of the concept of ChatGPT goes beyond Google “over the top”, with better technology to quickly access complete and useful information (even in the event of a complex request).
We are talking here about machine learning models trained with a large body of data on varied and eclectic topics. Therefore, ChatGPT can be asked almost any question and asked to create almost anything (as long as everything can be transmitted as text). ChatGPT always compiles a clear, useful, synthetic answer, and often even with high added value.
This is particularly the case of his talents in code. Indeed, ChatGPT can be asked to code entire programs like web browsers in any high-level programming language – with a response within minutes. Not only does ChatGPT generate ready-to-use code (or almost), but the code is also duly commented and explained so that the user can very easily understand what each line does.
Google has been interested for years in the same types of innovations in artificial intelligence as OpenAI, but the fruit of this work has remained for the moment mainly relegated to the academic world. However, the firm also seemed to be preparing an impressive conversational AI for several years. And we now know that this AI is called Bard, as well as some of his talents (before a more complete announcement on Wednesday February 8, 2023). Here’s everything we know about Bard at this point.
What is Google Bard, concretely?
Like ChatGPT, Bard is an experimental AI based on large conversational learning models. From what we understand, on the other hand, unlike ChatGPT which must content itself with basing its answers on a corpus of data stopping at 2021, Bard will be able to draw its information from the web in order to deliver “fresh and high quality answers”as Google CEO Sundar Pichai explains on Twitter.
While it is rumored that Microsoft (which has become the main shareholder of OpenAI) will integrate ChatGPT technologies into Bing, Google will obviously do exactly the same thing – limiting, in passing, the risk of redistribution of market share in the main search engines. web search. It should be noted that Bard’s technology remains to be demonstrated while ChatGPT has been tested by more than a hundred million Internet users for several months.
However, Microsoft has never yet managed to impose innovation allowing its Bing search engine to gain popularity. Conversely, Google is already number 1 in web searches, an inertia that can also serve Bard’s popularity. If Bard’s technology is convincing, then the risk of a market share decline goes away. And there are reasons to believe in the technology that drives Bard, because Google is not a newcomer to the subject of AI.
In 2018, Google, already well established in France, announced the launch of an R&D center dedicated to artificial intelligence in Paris, in addition to at least one other European center in Amsterdam. However, it is precisely the French capital that has been chosen for Bard’s official presentation event, Wednesday February 8, 2023 – underlining the importance of the teams based in France for the future of the company.
Bard is based on a lighter version of his LaMDA model (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) which had already impressed us in 2021. Bard’s strength is that Google says it has succeeded in optimizing its model so as to consume the fewest resources per request possible.
And therefore increase the viability of this type of technology. At this time, it is known that ChatGPT beta requests can incur a significant cost depending on volume. inaccessible (which still happens quite often to ChatGPT).
Which products will Google Bard enter?
Google is free to use its technologies in all the products it deems relevant. However, we know that Google Search and Google Maps will be widely discussed in the event organized by Google in Paris on Wednesday February 8, 2023. But after testing similar examples such as ChatGPT, we say to ourselves that ultimately the real question is more “in which products Google will not implement Bard”in the more or less long term.
Bard and conversational AIs in general are set to play a game-changing role in many industries. And if it is not necessarily a question here of emphasizing the dangers of the advent of this type of AI, one can think that many employees and self-employed people already use and will use more and more this type of AI. ‘AI as an aid to enable them to accomplish more with less effort on a daily basis.
In any case, looking for something complex and not having to multiply tabs and compile your own press reviews is already potentially a game changer for many people – from university to professional mode.
Can we test Bard now?
Alas, at this time Google is not allowing the general public to join what is still a closed beta project. Given the problems that have arisen with other conversational AIs in the past – such as data pollution with inappropriate content, leading to inappropriate responses – Google still wants to give itself time to polish the service.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai specifies that the first non-Googlers to have access to Bard will be “trust testers” without further details. There is no site to join the beta yet.
When will we be able to find out more about Bard?
Google, we told you, is organizing a special event in its Parisian research center in the 8th arrondissement, on Wednesday February 8 around 2:30 p.m. You can follow all the announcements via this official live stream on YouTube:
Of course, following the announcements, we will update the whole of this file as soon as we know more precisely all the details about Bard, and the positioning that Google wishes to give to its AI competitor ChatGPT.
