Google has just announced Bard, a new Artificial Intelligence tool that will serve to answer all users’ questions, will complement the search engine and will serve to end ChatGPT‘s current monopoly. The news has got everyone wondering what this AI is, when it will be available and how it will be used.
Although we still don’t know too much about the app, beyond a Twitter thread posted by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and the company’s official report, we are going to try to answer all the doubts about it.
What is Google Bard?
Google Bard is an Artificial Intelligence chatbot developed by Google that uses deep learning algorithms to provide clear answers to text messages written by users. The tool is based on LaMDA technology, developed by Google over the last few years, and is designed to search the entire internet for up-to-date answers to questions asked.
Bard will be constantly updated. Through its deep learning methods, it will use the users’ own conversations to renew its information and give updated answers at every moment. In addition, it will constantly scan the information collected on the Internet to keep up to date with everything.
Bard will serve as a complement to Google, rather than as an independent tool. Thus, when searching for anything on the platform, the first thing that will appear will be its answers, and then it will be complemented with all the links to the information searched for.
What is LaMDA?
LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications) is the neural language system on which Google Bard, the new AI tool, is based. LaMDA is a statistical model that relies on predicting the next word in a series based on previous words. Instead of being based on accomplishing tasks, like other previous AI models, this system is predictive, allowing for smooth conversations with users.
The first generation of LaMDA was announced in 2021, and in 2022 the second generation was announced. The current version is believed to be infinitely superior to the first, and may have been the key to Google Bard’s rapid development. So striking is its use that, in June last year, Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer, claimed that the chatbot had become sentient, a claim that set off alarm bells in the tech community.
Although LaMDA has 1.56 billion words, a simplified version of the language model has been created for Google Bard, so that it works much faster and more effectively for users.
How to access Google Bard?
Google is currently working with different developers, creators and companies that are being used as testers of the technology. It is expected that, over the next few months, all kinds of tests will be carried out to optimize this tool, so as not to encourage any harmful or misplaced use that may cause the chatbot not to generate sufficient confidence in users.
Once it is released, which is supposed to be worldwide this year, its application will be different from ChatGPT. The main idea is that it will be integrated into Google search, and accessed by asking direct questions in the search bar. It is not confirmed if it will have its own tab (although it is most likely), but the idea is that it will appear as the main text in every search we carry out.
It is not yet known whether the chatbot will be available through other Google products such as Google Assistant or Google Maps. But most likely, over the next few years, we will see how it reaches all aspects of our lives.
How to use Google Bard?
Although it is not yet available for use, it is expected that Google Bard can be used for all kinds of applications, similar to what we do with ChatGPT. For example, it will serve for:
- Answering questions. Google Bard will try to answer any question you have. It may not know when your niece’s communion is (or it will, if it gets access to Google Calendar), but you will be able to solve your doubts about soccer results, nuclear physics or celebrity gossip.
- Find information. Beyond asking directly, you will be able to use the chatbot to search for information of all kinds, without having to go down to the classic Google search.
- Automate tasks. Thanks to this tool, you will be able to book flights, order in food apps and much more, in a simpler and faster way.
- Help you get organized. As Sundar Pichai explains, the chatbot will be able to help you keep track of your agenda, calendar, to-do list and many other options in a simple way.
- Interact with other people. One of the most innovative uses of Google Bard is that it will allow you to interact with other people, either through a group chat or individual conversations.
To enter the chatbot, once it is activated, you will simply have to enter the application or, directly, use it through the Google search engine.
