Learn how to get early access to Google’s Bard AI, an alternative to ChatGPT with these steps.
Content Overview
Bard, an artificial intelligence bot developed by Google, caused a significant market loss of $100 billion for parent company Alphabet due to a factual error during its first demonstration, a little over a month ago. However, the bot is now accessible to certain users in the US and the UK.
Bard is Google’s competitor to Microsoft’s Bing Chat and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The neural network LaMDA, which is a language model for dialogue applications, forms the foundation of the bot. LaMDA is created using 1.56 trillion words obtained from public forums and other websites. LaMDA is an AI system that Google began developing in 2015, aligning with Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s announcement of transitioning to an “AI-first” company.
The bot is capable of providing conversational responses, particularly for complex or open-ended queries.
How do I gain access to Bard?
Bard is initially available to some customers in the US and the UK. Users can join the waiting list here.
Once you’re on the waitlist, there’s nothing to do but wait for an email with the subject line “It’s your turn to try Bard.”
Google said it would be expanding Bard “over time to more countries and languages” but did not specify a timetable, and framed the launch of Bard as “an experiment“.
Its FAQ page informs users that Bard is experimental, and cautioning that some responses may not be accurate. The input prompt box also includes a warning that Bard may present offensive or inaccurate information that does not reflect Google’s stance. These types of warnings are now commonplace on official information pages for AI chatbots.
How much will it cost?
For now, Bard is free.
Google has a well-established history of providing its applications to users for free as it primarily generates revenue from selling advertising.
With the rise of generative AI, the future of search engines and advertising revenue is uncertain.
Google’s new service, Bard, is positioned as a complement to search and is connected to Google Search, with a “Google it” button underneath every response.
In contrast, ChatGPT charges $20 a month for its service.
Conclusion
Google’s AI chatbot, Bard, comes with disclaimers acknowledging its potential to make mistakes or provide inaccurate or inappropriate responses due to its experimental nature. ChatGPT and Bing Chat offer limited information on their answer-generation processes but perform slightly better.
Bard’s real-time answers lack citation, and it is unclear where it sources its information. In an internal email, Google CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized the importance of user feedback in improving Bard’s capabilities.