Google has released the ‘Bard chatbot’ to Australian users, where it was previously only available to US and UK users. With this introduction, users can access a wide range of tasks including coding, school assignment research, travel advice and lunch ideas, by incorporating images as well as text in prompts. Moreover, Bard’s Vice President and GM, Sissie Hsiao, announced its availability in the 180 countries and territories and the removal of the waitlist.
Microsoft, Facebook and other technology companies have seized the opportunity in developing AI-powered tools after ChatGPT experienced success. However, Google launched Bard with some errors during a demonstration that results in a 7.7% fall in Alphabet’s stock market, dropping worth US$100 billion. Just like ChatGPT, which was launched in November 2019 by OpenAI, is independently run by Bard through a large language model trained on data available online.
Nevertheless, these large language models can be associated with bias, wrong conclusions and aggressive replies. Hsiao pointed out the launching of Bard into more people’s hands and the importance of improving their AI principles. At the annual Google I/O conference, they announced 25 new products, based on the PaLM 2 model which supposedly provides more efficiency. Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s CEO, expressed his mission to make AI more helpful, by making Google product search undergo a re-imagine process.
Although AI development, with the launching of Google’s products, increased efficiency and accuracy, some arguments about the possible side effects arose. Questions about the spread of false news and unemployment caused by AI are strong concerns, especially after Geoffrey Hinton, an AI leader, decided to leave from his role in Google to debate these issues. Therefore, educational institutions around the world, such Google, have had to deploy traditional forms of testing like pen and paper and proctoring, to prevent students from cheating in their assessments and exams.
Google is one of the technology companies at the forefront of providing custom AI solutions that help increase efficiency, accuracy and customer satisfaction. Since its launch, Google continues to improve AI principles, making sure that their products offer reliable and trustworthy information for their customers.
