When Google released the experimental version of its AI chatbot Bard in February 2023, Microsoft responded in minutes by announcing its own AI. The race to rule the internet zeitgeist began after OpenAI released an AI-powered tool ChatGPT in November 2022.
So far, Microsoft has invested over $10 billion in OpenAI and integrated GPT-4 into Bing and other products to enhance user experiences. Now, Google has publicly launched Bard in more than 180 countries. This new AI-powered chatbot will empower Google’s search engine and allow users to search for their desired information in minutes. Just like ChatGPT, Google Bard can produce human-like responses to text-based queries, understand complex topics, and brainstorm new ideas.
Let’s further explore what Google Bard is and how is it different from OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
What is Google Bard?
Bard is a conversational AI chatbot powered by LaMDA, PaLM2. Although it is still under development, Google launched it as a rival to the globally-recognized ChatGPT, which has millions of users worldwide.
Like ChatGPT, Bard is trained on a massive dataset of text and code that allows users to create high-quality responses. The primary difference is that Bard pulls its information from the web and includes up-to-date information with accuracy. However, the responses generated by ChatGPT are limited to a cutoff date of September 2021.
Moreover, Bard allows users to write interesting stories, compelling ad copies for marketing, and emails for various purposes. Programmers and IT professionals can also write codes in different programming languages or debug their codes with Google’s powerful AI chatbot.
Google Bard vs. OpenAI ChatGPT: Key Differences
ChatGPT users are already familiar with the amazing capabilities of OpenAI’s AI chatbot. When it comes to Google Bard, there are a few differences to watch out for, such as:
| Google Bard | OpenAI ChatGPT | |
| Language Model | LaMDA, PaLM2 | GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 |
| Supporting Languages | 26 | 50+ |
| Conversational Learning | Limited learning | Learns a lot from users’ conversations |
| Sources of Information | Web | Own Sources |
| Cutoff Date | No cutoff date, Provides up-to-date information | September 2021 |
| Coding Prompts | Under development | Supports coding prompts |
| Creativity/Accuracy | More Accurate and Informative | More Creative & Versatile |
| Prompts | Text, Images, Voice | Text and Images |
| Responses | Text and Images | Text Only |
| Drafts | Offers multiple responses to a single query | Offers a single response to a query |
| Availability | Available in 180 countries | Available in 161 countries |
| Pricing | Free | Free + $20/month (For GPT-4) |
How Does Google Bard Work?
Google Bard uses PaLM2, the most advanced large language model (LLM) created by Google in 2023. It is a family of big conversational language models that allow users to communicate with AI chatbots in human-like conversations. The initial version of PaLM2 was PaLM, which was unveiled in 2022.
The decision to use Google’s own LLMs came after ChatGPT and BingChat started using an LLM. Hence, Bard was powered by LaMDA and PaLM2 for significant performance improvements.
Moreover, the power of Bard lies in a neural network architecture called transformers, which allows this AI tool to understand patterns in complex datasets. Based on its analysis, the tool then generates original and high-quality responses in text, image, and voice formats.
Here’s how it works:
| 1. Prompt Reception | 2. Prompt Analysis | 3. Response Generation |
| Once Bard receives a prompt from the user, the transformer’s initial layers extract information about the syntax and structure of this prompt. Similarly, a probability distribution is generated for the most likely keywords or phrases based on the information extracted. | The transformer’s initial layers extract information about the syntax and structure of this prompt and generate a probability distribution for most likely keywords. Besides, the transformer model establishes a relationship between words and phrases to learn the statistical patterns. | Once Bard has analyzed the prompt, it uses natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning techniques to produce accurate, high-quality, and contextually appropriate responses in the form of text and images. |
How Can Users Access Bard?
Accessing Google Bard is very easy. Follow these simple and easy steps to experience this advanced AI chatbot:
1. Go to https://bard.google.com/
First of all, enter https://bard.google.com/ in your web browser’s search bar and press enter. Make sure you have a Google account to sign in. Otherwise, sign up to create a new account to access Google Bard.
2. Enter Your Prompt/Query
Now, enter your prompt in text or voice form. Google Bard will generate three different drafts of this query. Select your preferred draft and copy the information or edit your prompt to get new responses.
Applications of Google Bard
Google Bard has a wide range of applications including but not limited to:
Customer Service: Customer service agents can use Google Bard to answer queries from their clients, resolve their issues, and provide technical assistance. They can also seek guidance to effectively handle conflicts with angry customers and strengthen relationships.
Content Creation: When it comes to creativity, Bard can be your reliable assistant. The tool can be used to generate creative content like short stories, video scripts, poems, blogs and articles, and musical lyrics. Whether you want to start a new marketing campaign or write a new song or play, don’t forget to experiment with Bard.
Research: Data collection and analysis is a tough job, but Bard makes it very easy. Try using this AI chatbot to create interactive learning materials, generate hypotheses and theories, and organize the information to make logical conclusions.
Coding: Bard has amazing coding capabilities supporting more than 20 programming languages including Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, and TypeScript. Developers and software engineers can use this tool for code generation, explanation, and debugging, much more.
What’s Next with Google Bard?
Google Bard is no less than a blessing for millions of Google users worldwide. The AI chatbot will soon be integrated into Google’s products including Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Workspace, etc.
In the future, we can use Google Bard in Gmail to write compelling emails and generate or edit photos in Google Photos. Similarly, the integration of Bard into Google Maps will help users access immersive views for different routes and seek more personalized assistance while traveling.