The company Google opened access to Bard to a limited group of testers.
1/ In 2021, we shared next-gen language + conversation capabilities powered by our Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA). Coming soon: Bard, a new experimental conversational #GoogleAI service powered by LaMDA. https://t.co/cYo6iYdmQ1
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 6, 2023
The AI chatbot is built on a lightweight LaMDA language model.
According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the tool uses information from the internet to provide “fresh and high-quality answers”. It can be used to understand complex scientific discoveries, get inspired or read about the best football players, and then find suitable ball-handling drills.
“Bard could become a launchpad for curiosity, [for example], helping explain the James Webb Space Telescope’s new discoveries to a nine-year-old child,” Pichai wrote in a blog post.
According to Pichai, the lightweight version of the LaMDA model requires significantly less computing power. This enables scaling the chatbot to a larger number of users and obtaining more feedback.
“We will combine external feedback with internal testing to ensure the quality of answers, their safety, and the veracity of real information,” Pichai said.
He added that soon AI-powered features in Search would transform complex information and different viewpoints into formats that are easy to digest.
In addition, the company plans to open access to the API for generative AI based on LaMDA for independent developers.
Pichai said that after the closed testing stage with trusted testers in the coming weeks Bard will be available to the general public.
The conversational AI of the company was likely a response to OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT service. The chatbot began to be called the “Google killer” due to its ability to quickly find answers to complex questions. This raised concerns at the tech giant.
The Google leadership declared “code red” and turned to the founders of the company, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for “advice” on AI development. Brin, according to Forbes, returned to work on the tech giant’s code. Employees noted that Brin had filed a request for access to the LaMDA code.
In November 2022, OpenAI presented a conversational AI chatbot with artificial intelligence called ChatGPT.
In January 2023, Microsoft struck a multibillion-dollar deal with an AI lab. The tech giant intends to integrate the chatbot into the Bing search service.
In February, media reported that Google invested about $300 million in a competitor to ChatGPT.