A Timeline of Google Bard
Sunday, September 17th. COM2314 | 1624 Concordia University Texas
The name “Bard” was chosen for this artificial intelligence tool as a reference to the Celtic term for “storyteller” and the algorithm running the tool which is of a creative and ethereal nature. Google developed Bard as a response to the growing interest and competition from other artificial intelligence tools, but the international brand giant felt the most pressure from Microsoft and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. When Microsoft launched their chatbot and it was well received by the public as a creative tool, Google felt that it needed to capitulate on the newest market it saw developing. While ChatGPT cannot format the information on it’s own, the tool does pull information from various sources and can functionally assemble the details into a full composition. Due to it’s exploration and connection to multiple search engines, Google assumed the tool would become a very real threat to their biggest and most successful platform. Which turned out to be a valid fear.
After the launch of ChatGPT in 2021, Google assembled a research team which was tasked with further developing the brand’s artificial intelligence efforts. The development team originally decided to use Google’s LaMDA large language model which was also further developed to expand its availability and applications in order for it to appropriately support their chatbot prototype. However, through the development of the A.I. tool, the task force decided to move away from the LaMDA and used PaLM instead because they believed it would be more secure. The reputational risk of unveiling a tool that was less than functional prohibited the brand from an early launch. A risk that OpenAI did not have to keep in mind when they launched a mediocre tool that went viral, their company is substantially smaller and less at risk of a P.R. circus.
At its unveiling to an initial testing audience of 1,000 secure users, Google Bard was less than stellar. The demo used faulty information and was unable to show accurate citations or use credible sources to gather its info for its response to the user querries. This disaster in February of 2023 effectively became a P.R. nightmare which haunted Google through a viral video of its ineffectual demo, after which Google’s stock fell 8 points and caused a $100 billion deficit. The team then attempted to iron out the issues with the demo and placed a pre disclosure at the home page of the A.I. tool which informs the user that Bard is not infalliable and does, at times, generate erroneous information. This transperancy has been well received by the public and places Bard at the top of user friendly tools. It was officially unveiled in July to the American public with English as it’s only functioning language. From which it has developed to an international platform averaging more than 40 language options.
The push for Google Bard’s July unveiling came from a Microsoft partnership with Bing to place ChatGPT on their server. This was a clear example of Microsoft reaching competition status to Google’s search engine platform. Therefore, Google needed a warm reception in the public eye to subdue that competition field. However, it did not get the positive reviews it was looking for and now it is struggling through a luke warm placement in the chatbot/artificial intelligence world. Which allowed it’s users to explore and the tool to develop further than what it was originally designed for. Google contracts out to a third party company (alphabet) to train and update Google Bard. It’s updates and improvements have developed Bard as a front runner into the Coding world. The chatbot is capable of explaining, in detail, every step of the coding process and even writes functional scripts that can exported to a coding platform. Combining this expansion into a new outlet with it’s powerful brand and multiple platforms to which it can export to, Google Bard has created it’s own small- but significant-niche. ChatGPT has a smaller search platform and a second place brand name with a more wild and less regulated creative algorithm. Not only does it use these specifications to stand out in the chatbot world but it also uses it’s transperancy ethics to appeal further to the userfriendly option. Google Bard will also annotate it’s outputs with images, maps, and other formats from it’s various Google brand apps, but it will also add relevant information and give it’s own review and/or thought process for further development of the topic exploration.
In the future, if Google Bard continues to hold it’s position as a coding tool, the developing world can see improvement in the expansion of coding and technological S.T.E.M. explorations. Not only is it capable of explaining in full details and walking a user through the step-by-step process, it is also an exporting tool for an operational script. The tool can also further develop the script it outputs through an editing function through each additional prompt. It can also reformat to fit different script generators if the user wants various options for the code. In it’s capacity, Google Bard could have an impactful sway towards greater technological developments and chatbot/ artificial intelligence progress. Not only will this have positive ramifications for the brands backing these steps in the A.I. world, but it will also clearly push technology and science boundaries for the better. Chatbots have already contributed to a larger user exploration of the science and technology world as they become more and more user friendly, it stands to reason that they can and will continue to build a following that will greatly impact the human experience.
In conclusion, Google Bard developed as a response to the technological expansion and developments in a field that seems to be leading the newest wave of scientific revolution. While it was not originally well received and has continued to slowly coast through the turmoil, Google Bard has continued to show it’s stamina. There is positive improvement to the chatbot in it’s early months of existence and great promise in it’s developing functions. It is further backed by an incredibly powerful brand with uninhibited access to it’s multiple application tools, which can only further develop the chatbot as it gains a better reputation and a larger audience. This creates an intensely competitive rush towards scientific/technological evolution and what has already been labeled the “A.I. arms race”.