Bard: Google opens early public access to ChatGPT rival

Launched last month, the conversational AI tool aims to create innovative ways to engage with information

Google said it is building its generative AI tool Bard responsibly while keeping the human element in the spotlight. AP

Alphabet-owned Google on Tuesday opened limited public access to its generative artificial intelligence platform Bard, which aims to rival Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.

Launched last month, the new conversational AI service focuses on creating innovative ways to engage with information, from language and images to videos and audio.

Bard will initially be available to select consumers in the US and the UK. Users can join the waitlist here.

Google said it would be expanding Bard “over time to more countries and languages” but did not specify a timeline.

“You can use Bard to boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity,” said Google's Sissie Hsiao, vice president of product, and Eli Collins, vice president of research, in a blog post on Tuesday.

Bard comes with various generative AI capabilities. For example, users can ask Bard to give them tips to reach their goal of reading more books this year, explain quantum physics in simple terms, write a customised job description, draft an invitation for a Halloween-themed birthday party or quickly write an outline for a blog post.

“We have learnt a lot so far by testing Bard, and the next critical step in improving it is to get feedback from more people … we will learn alongside you as we go. With your feedback, Bard will keep getting better and better,” Ms Hsiao and Mr Collins said.

When using Bard, users will “get the choice of a few different drafts of its response so you can pick the best starting point for you”.

“You can continue to collaborate with Bard from there, asking follow-up questions. And if you want to see an alternative, you can always have Bard try again,” Ms Hsiao and Mr Collins added.

California-based Google said it would continue improving Bard and adding more abilities to it. Some of the new capabilities will include coding, a great number of languages and multi-modal experiences.

Bard is powered by Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) technology that was launched by the company nearly two years ago. AI-led LaMDA comes with next-generation language and conversation ability.

Generative AI uses machine learning to produce content such as text, images, video and audio. It can generate novel content, in the right context, instead of merely analysing or acting on the existing data.

Recent new breakthroughs in the field could drastically change the way we approach content creation, according to a recent report from McKinsey & Company.

The global generative AI market is expected to reach $188.62 billion by 2032, growing at an annual rate of more than 36 per cent from $8.65 billion last year, a report by Brainy Insights showed. The North American region dominated the market in 2022.

Google said it is building Bard responsibly while keeping the human factor in the spotlight.

“Our work on Bard is guided by our AI principles, and we continue to focus on quality and safety,” Ms Hsiao and Mr Collins said.

“We are using human feedback and evaluation to improve our systems, and we have also built in guardrails, like capping the number of exchanges in a dialogue, to try to keep interactions helpful and on topic.”