Google’s answer to ChatGPT is here! How the tech giant wants to usurp the AI ​​crown with Bard

In early February, Google announced that they were working on an AI that would dethrone ChatGPT. And now, just a few weeks later, they’ve already released »Google Bard«.

You can now find out what Google’s experimental AI is supposed to be capable of and what distinguishes it from ChatGPT.

What is Google Bard?

Bard is said to work very similar to ChatGPT or the new Bing. This means that it is an artificial intelligence-based chatbot that is designed to help you with various text-based problems or inquiries.

Bard uses Google’s LaMDA language model, which was introduced two years ago and is itself based on Google’s »Transformer« neural network structure.

Fun-Fact: According to Google, OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, also use Transformer for their GPT-3 language model.

What is the difference between Google Bard and ChatGPT?

The biggest difference to ChatGPT is the fact that Google Bard accesses the internet to give you the right answer. Until now, you had to use browser extensions for ChatGPT. That was not only cumbersome, but also didn’t always work the way you might imagine.

How do I use Bard?

Google politely advises that Bard is currently unavailable in our country.

If you live in the right country, you can sign up for a waiting list on the Bard website. Unfortunately, we still have to be patient before we can enjoy the new AI in Europe. Google is currently only allowing users in the US and UK to register.

So the user base will be gradually increased. This will be rather slow at first. Since we saw almost the same process with Microsoft’s new version of Bing a few weeks ago, we can expect to be able to officially access it within a few weeks. However, that is not set in stone.

Important: If the waiting list is available in Germany, make sure that you register with a private address. Business accounts such as Google Workspaces are not permitted. Even now, if you try:

Google won’t put you on the waiting list without a personal account.

Google Bard does not have the best starting conditions

The first announcement of Google Bard on February 6th was already ill-fated. The presentation video included an example that showed a fairly obvious error. This mistake caused Google’s share price to plummet by 8 percent. That corresponded to a total value of 100 million dollars.

What happened? Bard was fed this prompt in the video:

Bard’s response included three examples:

• A series of galaxies called Green Peas.
• Images of galaxies older than 13 billion years.
• And the first picture a planet outside of our solar system.

Unfortunately, the last answer is quite obviously wrong, since since almost 20 years Pictures of planets outside of our solar system are made. The James Webb Space Telescope, on the other hand, is only since 2021 im Orbit.

Whether this drama will be repeated remains to be seen. First user reportsfor example by The Verge, are so far not particularly impressed. However, Google wants to work closely with early adopters to quickly improve the AI. According to Google, Bard is still an “early experiment”.

What do you think of Google Bard? Will you sign up for the list as soon as it’s available in Germany? Who do you think is ahead in the AI ​​arms race? OpenAI, Microsoft, Google or maybe someone else entirely? As always, let us know your opinions and views in the comments.