There’s been a lot of chatter around artificial intelligence lately, particularly after OpenAI debuted its revolutionary ChatGPT service that Microsoft is now looking to integrate into Office 365 and Bing search. Meanwhile, Google has been a self-professed “AI-first” company since announcing a shift in focus at I/O 2017, and more recently, it unveiled plans for an AI-powered Google Search feature called Bard. But in a sea of buzzwords and initialisms, it can be hard to wrap your head around what these new tools actually do.
Google Search already uses AI to understand colloquial language and power tools like Google Lens and Google Assistant, so you might be wondering how Bard is any different. The key is in Bard’s conversationality and ability to answer questions — but there’s much more to it, so let’s dive in.
What is Bard and where did it come from?
In the simplest terms, Bard is a generative AI — this is the generic name for AI models like ChatGPT and DALL-E that can create new content. Generative AIs can make video, audio, and imagery, but Bard is focused on creating text — specifically, text that answers your questions in a natural, conversational way.
Bard gets its name from the word meaning “poet” — as in the Bard of Avalon, William Shakespeare — in a reference to its linguistic capabilities.
Considering the timing, Bard may seem like a product that was rushed out the door to compete with ChatGPT. But interestingly, Google actually laid the groundwork for ChatGPT by making its Transformer deep learning model available to the public in 2017, and Bard’s main backend, LaMDA, was announced almost two years ago. So OpenAI’s new tool shares a common lineage with Google’s, but Bard itself has been years in the making.
Bard is based on LaMDA, a conversational AI model Google debuted in 2021
How does Bard work?
Google wants Bard to supplement the Knowledge Graph Cards you see in Search when making queries that have a simple answer. While a Knowledge Graph Card can supply you with a word’s definition or an overview about a person or place, Bard seeks to respond to NORA questions, as Google calls them – searches with No One Right Answer.
To do this, Bard first uses LaMDA language models to understand your question and its context, even if it contains colloquialisms that search engines have traditionally struggled with. After that, Bard draws on information it finds across the web to form an answer, which is then made into the type of conversational reply you might expect from a real person (again, thanks to LaMDA).
Google wants you to use this tool to further your understanding of topics and help make decisions. During a demonstration in Paris, the company asked the chatbot to help decide which car to buy, then asked follow-up questions about the advantages of electric vehicles. Such prowess could negate the need to click search results, but Google is being careful to maintain its relationships with websites and content creators. Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan had this to say on the matter:
As we scale these new, generative AI features in our search results, we continue to prioritize the process that will allow us to send valuable traffic to a wide range of creators and support a healthy, open web.
When can I use Bard?
In addition to internal dogfood users, Google has made Bard available to a select group of trusted testers already. The company has stated it plans to open a public early access program for the tool in the coming weeks. If a beta signup becomes available, we’ll make sure to update this page with a link and instructions on how to join.
During testing, Bard will be utilizing a lightweight model version of LaMDA, which Google says will allow it to make the prerelease version of the tool available to more users. The company aims to use this testing phase to fine-tune Bard’s accuracy, quality, and speed.
The test version of Bard is a standalone utility, but the tool will eventually be integrated into Google Search
Once Bard has finished with its testing phases, it should ultimately be integrated into Google Search. At that point, using the feature then should be as simple as typing any query into the search bar — you’ll notice things are different when Google gives you a thorough answer in plain English instead of a card and a list of links.
