Tech companies have been taking turns in launching their artificial intelligence (AI) products since opportunities popped up. Giants were also jumping into the trend, including Google with its chatbot Bard commonly known as an emerging ChatGPT rival.
As quick as the announcement came in, Google found itself stumbling after people called out Bard’s incorrect response in an ad. But the tech giant refuses to stay down and aims to bounce back with more AI-powered tools.
Bard Fails in a Sample with a Made-Up Fact
On Tuesday, Google shared a GIF to the public via its official Twitter account, explaining Bard’s possible use cases. But experts caught the tech giant off guard after they pointed out an incorrect response from the AI.
Google used the sample prompt, “What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9-year-old about?” In a few seconds, Bard responded with multiple answers. The mistake would be hard to see at first glance, mainly because the AI seemingly provides explanations with the confidence of a doctor.
Dr. Grant Tremblay, an astrophysicist, corrected Bard’s answer in a tweet. He claims that JWST isn’t responsible for taking the first pictures of exoplanets. NASA also backs up this info in its public documentation.
Bruce Macintosh, an experienced astronomer, also expressed his disappointment in reply to Google, saying, “Speaking as someone who imaged an exoplanet 14 years before JWST was launched, it feels like you should find a better example?”
Although Google introduced Bard as an experimental AI service, it fell short of its supposed strength of giving updated and high-quality responses. It only proves that the tech giant still has room for improvement before it should roll out publicly. However, the AI is only open to trusted testers, and there’s only a matter of weeks to make the necessary changes. As per Sundar Pichai’s (Google and Alphabet’s head) announcement, Bard will be open to more users soon.
Additionally, Bard is only one of the many flawed AI-powered tools. There were also instances of other models like ChatGPT providing made-up facts, specifically in answering math problems. Thanks to the combination of ChatGPT and Wolfram Alpha, a powerful assistant has been born. But it’s only a solution to one issue, and there are still other aspects to work on, especially since they’re currently moving toward search engines.
Google Continues with More AI Tools
The AI race heats up with two tech giants, Microsoft and Google, competing with one another. Reports claim that Microsoft advanced the game with its live ChatGPT-powered Bing and enhanced Edge. On the other hand, Google aims to match this up with multiple AI-powered tools.
Google is known for its decades of expertise in building tech, but it chooses to take a step forward by innovating its past tools, as explained in yesterday’s event in Paris. One of its examples is the demonstration of the new Google Maps, which will provide an immersive view. Its AI will help give users live street perspectives both outdoors and indoors.
Another improvement was Google Translate, adding up 24 new languages through the so-called Zero-Shot Machine Translation, a technique that won’t require traditional training. New Google Lens features will also come into play.
Google even poured more than $300M into another OpenAI rival startup: Anthropic.
But perhaps the center of it all is Google’s main product, Search. Based on its sample, the tech giant addresses the users’ need for a deeper understanding of topics that interest them. It means that it’ll be adding Bard on Search, but the demo didn’t clearly answer how it’ll ensure factual responses.
We know that Google strives to transform how users acquire information online with a key focus on improved experiences. However, time can only tell if it can deliver its promises, more importantly, that the AI competition is getting wilder.
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