In March, Google launched an AI chatbot called Bard. This was Google’s answer to OpenAI’s hugely popular ChatGPT.
But Bard used less sophisticated AI than ChatGPT. He comes across as less capable and less conversational. Within weeks, Google revamped the tool with improved technology, but ChatGPT continued to be the chatbot that captured the public’s attention.
On Tuesday, Google revealed a plan to jump on ChatGPT by linking Bard to its most popular consumer services, such as Gmail, Docs, and YouTube. With the new features, Google has taken a step towards connecting Cool to the company’s wide range of online products.
Although Bard hasn’t received as much attention as ChatGPT, Google’s AI tool has gone from being a also-ran chatbot to a close competitor. Bard has not received as much attention as ChatGPT. In August, ChatGPT had nearly 1.5 billion visits on the desktop and mobile web, more than three times what Google’s AI tool and other competitors achieved, according to Data from SimilarWeba data analysis company.
However, Jack Krawczyk, Google’s product lead for Bard, said in an interview that Google was aware of issues that limited the appeal of its chatbot. “It’s neat and new, but it doesn’t really integrate with my personal life,” Mr. Krawczyk said users told the company.
Google’s version of what it calls Bard Extensions follows OpenAI’s version Announcement in March A ChatGPT plugin that allows the chatbot to access updated information and third-party services from other companies, including Expedia, Instacart, and OpenTable.
With the latest updates, Google will try to replicate some of the capabilities of its search engine, by integrating flights, hotels, and maps, so users can search for travel and transportation. Bard may come close to being a personal assistant for users, allowing them to ask what emails they missed and what the most important points in a document are.
It is widely known that AI chatbots deliver not only correct information, but also lies, in a phenomenon known as “hallucination.” Users are left with no way of knowing what is correct and what is incorrect.
Google believes it has taken a step toward addressing these issues by revamping the “Google It” button on Bard’s website, which allowed users to perform Google searches based on queries they asked the chatbot.
Now, the button will double-check Bard’s answers. When Google has high confidence in a claim and can support it with evidence, it will highlight the text in green and link it to another web page that supports the information. When Google can’t find facts to support a claim, text is instead highlighted in orange.
“We are truly committed to making Bard more trustworthy by not only showing confidence in our response, but also admitting when we make a mistake,” Mr. Krawczyk said.
Many technology companies have spent billions of dollars developing so-called large language models that power Bard and other chatbots, systems that need huge amounts of data in order to learn. This has raised concerns about how companies like Google use consumer information.
The company sought to allay concerns about how Bard would use this information.
“We are committed to protecting your personal information,” Yuri Pinsky, director of product management at Bard, wrote in a blog post. “If you choose to use Workspace extensions, your content from Gmail, Docs, and Drive will not be seen by human reviewers, used by Bard to show you ads, or used to train Bard’s model.”
Mr. Krawczyk said Bard would preserve users’ privacy, though he declined to comment on how other Google services use this type of data.
Google also updated Bard’s core AI, Pathways Language Model 2. It expanded the feature that allows users to upload images to more than 40 languages. Google allows users to share Bard conversations with each other, so they can see responses and ask the chatbot additional questions about that topic.
Even though people in more than 200 countries and regions are able to use Bard, Google still calls the tool an “experience,” not the full product.
“These are still early days for this technology, and it has profound capabilities but must be well understood by the people using it,” Mr. Krawczyk said.
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