On Monday Alphabet Inc, Google’s owner said it will launch a chatbot service and artificial intelligence for its search engines and developers, to compete with Microsoft.
The news shows how Silicon Valley is eagerly waiting to shift from so-called generative AI, technology that can create writing and other content on command and lessen the burden of white-collar workers.
The rise of ChatGPT, a chatbot from Microsoft-supported OpenAI that drastically alters how people search for information, has recently been a challenge to Google.
In a blog post, Sundar Pichai, Alphabet’s Chief Executive, said that his company will be launching an interactive AI service named Bard to test users for feedback, and a public press release in a few weeks.
He said Google sought to add features to its search engine that incorporated material for complex queries, like whether learning guitar or piano was easier. Google currently displays text that is present somewhere on the Web for queries with clear answers.
Google’s update for search, whose timing is not revealed, shows how the company is improving its services. Meanwhile, Microsoft does the same for Bing, integrating the OpenAI feature into it.
According to the British news agency Reuters, Microsoft stated its plans to add AI into all its products and on Tuesday it planned to share developments with its CEO Satya Nadella. The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, tweeted that he would attend the event.
It is not clear how Google’s Bard will be distinct from OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The new service will avail information from the internet as ChatGPT is up to date with all the latest information, Pichai said.
He said, “Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our AI”.
The new chatbot is backed by Google’s AI called LaMDA, which generates text in such a skilled way that last year a company engineer described it as sentient, something the technology giant and scientists ignored.
In its demo, Bard, like ChatGPT, invites users to enter a prompt while alerting them that its response may be inappropriate. The demo showed three answers to a question about a space telescope’s discoveries.
Pichai stated Google depends on a version of LaMDA that needs less computing power to serve more users and improve with their feedback.
ChatGPT has turned down users due to its explosive growth, with UBS analysts reporting it had 57 million unique users in December outrunning TikTok.
Pichai said Google next month sought to provide technology tools, first generated by LaMDA and then other AI, creators and enterprises.
