Prabhakar Raghavan of Google Inc. speaks during the Cloud Next ’18 event in San Francisco, California on July 24, 2018.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Google’s head of search, Prabhakar Raghavan, shared some new examples of its new conversational technology, Bard, during a live broadcast in Paris on Wednesday. Bard is Google’s competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI.
The presentation followed an event on Tuesday where Microsoft announced that GPT’s OpenAI technology would be integrated into the home page of its Bing search product.
During a short presentation, Raghavan showed slides with new examples of Bard’s capabilities. One slide showed how Bard could be used to map the pros and cons of buying, say, an electric car and plan a trip to Northern California.
“Let’s say you’re looking for a new car that’s a good fit for your family,” Raghavan said. — Bard can help you think from different angles, from budget to security and more, and simplify and make sense of them.
Raghavan showed how Bard can also offer the pros and cons of electric cars.
The first bullet in the “pros” section said: “Electric cars do not emit harmful substances when driving, which is better for the environment than a car with a gas engine. Gas cars produce emissions that contribute to climate change.’ “In general, they are cheaper to operate,” read the second point. “They don’t require oil changes or tune-ups, and they have fewer moving parts, so less can go wrong.”
The first bullet in the “cons” section said, “Electric cars have a more limited range depending on battery size.” The second point reads: “Charging an electric car can take some time, especially if you use a public charging station.”
He showed another slide suggesting how Bard might plan a trip. “I think our first longer trip will be from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, can you suggest some stops along the way?”
Bard provided a list of four stops between the two locations, including Half Moon Bay, Pescadero and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with a proposal describing each. “Stop by Pigeon Point Lighthouse for a great view,” reads one description.
The latest examples come after Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday publicly announced Google’s new Bard conversational technology, which is powered by artificial intelligence and will be integrated into search, confirming an initial report by CNBC. The company is opening up Bard to select testers in the coming weeks ahead of a wider launch.
But reports also note that Bard, like other AI tools, can be inaccurate. A recent ad for Google’s service found Bard offering an incorrect description of the telescope used, for example, to take the first pictures of a planet outside our solar system. A Google representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ad.
Pichai told employees that the company would require all Bard workers to undergo hackathon-style testing as it faces pressure from investors and employees to compete with ChatGPT, the Microsoft-backed OpenAI chatbot that stunned the public when it launched late last year.
