Home >> Blog >> Bard vs. ChatGPT: Could Google’s new AI-powered tool possibly win the Chatbot rivalry?
Bard vs. ChatGPT: Could Google’s new AI-powered tool possibly win the Chabot rivalry?
Searching for information online comes as second nature to most of us. Whether we’re trying to remember the name of a cartoon we grew up with or need to find the contact details of a company halfway across the world, search engines present the answer at the click of a button. And it comes as no surprise that Google is a firm market leader in this domain, with a share of around 84 percent of the global online search engine market according to recent Statista data. But a few months ago, along came the mighty ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that not only became a world sensation but seems to pose a considerable competitive threat to Google.
ChatGPT at a glance
As highlighted by OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, the system has been designed to interact with users in a conversational way. It answers questions, challenges incorrect premises, and rejects inappropriate requests. What’s more, given the right prompts, it can create ads, draft emails, write entire articles, product descriptions, speeches, and catchy social media posts complete with hashtags. It can even create written code, trained on a vast amount of natural language data, including code snippets and programming languages.
When asked to write a LinkedIn post about a company’s new digital services, for example, ChatGPT is quick to respond and sounds shockingly ‘human’: “Exciting news! We’re launching new digital service offerings to help businesses stay ahead of the curve. From website development and mobile app design to social media marketing and data analytics, our tailored services can help you streamline operations, improve customer engagement, and drive growth. Contact us today to learn more!”
Little wonder that ChatGPT has been celebrated as the most important tool since the development of search engines. The figures speak for themselves. In the first week of its launch, it surpassed one million users. And now, this online-based tool has set a record for the fastest app to reach 100 million users, surpassing Google+, which took one year and two months to reach that milestone.
All eyes on the next big thing
Thus far, the basic version of ChatGPT remains free for everyone to download and use and many have questioned if it will bring an end to Google’s dominance in the search market. But Google hasn’t been lying idle all this time. In February 2023, the American tech giant created a massive buzz, announcing the launch of its own Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot named Bard, set to rival ChatGPT. At the time of publication, Bard is in the final testing phases (only currently available to a small group of users) and is expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks.
Public opinion seems to be divided – some claim that Google has jumped on the chatbot bandwagon too late, while other valuations paint a very different picture, highlighting that Bard will be far superior to ChatGPT. Some reports even emphasise that it will be a more trustworthy and up-to-date AI assistant. The fact of the matter is, they may have very similar functions, but there are key differences between the two worth considering. As we anticipate the introduction of Google’s new AI ‘hero’ any day now, let’s dive a little deeper based on what we know so far.
- A difference in data source
As a large language model (LLM), ChatGPT is pre-trained with a great amount of online data and text to draft the answers to questions. ChatGPT-3.5 was also trained on information taken from sources like Reddit conversations, helping attain a more ‘human’ character and style of response. As such, it appears as though it understands the user and the context of the question asked. And it will cleverly ask for clarifications to provide more precise answers. Bard, on the other hand, uses Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Application (LaMDA). This breakthrough conversation technology will probably be capable of answering users with a more relaxed ‘chatty’ language. According to the tech giant, LaMDA enables Bard to engage in a free-flowing way, with skills that have been years in the making.
- The hard ‘fact’ of the matter
Thus far, users have noticed that ChatGPT is sometimes over-capacity. It has even been known to provide wrong, misleading, and even, biased answers. As such, fact-checking and deciphering what could be false information is essential. That being said, Open AI has launched its own plagiarism checker, AI Text Classifier, which has been created to detect the difference between computer-generated copy and human-written text. Initial reports have also indicated that Bard can get things wrong, with a recent ad for Google’s services featuring an incorrect description of the telescope used to take the first pictures of a planet outside our solar system. Google representatives were quick to respond to this mishap, highlighting that rigorous testing will ensure Bard’s responses are of the highest quality, using safe real-world information.
- Keeping up with the times
While both ChatGPT and Brad can provide easy-to-digest answers to complex dilemmas, perhaps the greatest drawback of ChatGPT thus far is that it only has data, information, and knowledge of world events up until 2021. As such, it cannot provide up-to-date news and has no knowledge of recent or current events. Bard, on the other hand – which will most likely be integrated into Google Search – will continually draw information from the internet and Google’s massive data collection. So, it will be able to provide the latest info, answering questions in real time. Most importantly, it will provide more details than a Google search, retrieving info and offering one overall simple answer versus a search engine results page. It seems that Bard will also offer help as an assistant – booking vacations, finding existing reservations online, and more.
The final takeaway
The future of AI continues to evolve at the speed of light. And with chatbots becoming increasingly human-like in the way they interact and converse with users, they present endless possibilities for businesses to tap into the power of this technology and unlock greater potential. Of course, it’s still early days to jump to any concrete conclusions, but Bard certainly looks set to become a fierce ChatGPT rival.
While we will only have the full picture once Google Bard is launched for the general public, we can predict – given its very innovative capabilities – that it’s bound to become an integral part of the search engine experience. But let’s not forget that ChatGPT and Bard are not the only chatbots changing the world as we know it. China’s search engine, Baidu, is also using AI for an application named Ernie Bot while several startups are currently working on their own AI-powered bots. All have the remarkable potential to further revolutionalise how we conduct business and the ways we interact with technology. Watch this space!
Always keeping abreast of all new digital developments, Seamless Digital takes pride in offering businesses a wide range of innovative web and mobile services across the globe. Find out how we can skyrocket your online presence by calling +357 22252053 or sending us a message here.