July 14, 2023, 12:48 PM
ChatGPT has been making waves since its launch on Nov. 30, 2022, what with it helping civil servants write whole-ass reports and roasting Singapore by dubbing it a "neat-freak".
But a new competitor has entered the ring: Bard.
What/who is Bard?
Bard is a conversational generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot birthed by Google.
It was released to over 180 countries, including Singapore, in May 2023.
The conversational AI service is powered by Google's machine learning technique, Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA).
According to the tech company, LaMDA is a step-up from chatbots that "follow narrow, pre-defined paths", as it can "engage in a free-flowing way about a seemingly endless number of topics".
This is not exactly a perfect substitute for ChatGPT, as the humble Bard itself pointed out that the language models possess contrasting pros and cons.
ChatGPT is more apt at creative writing, while Bard's forte is research.
Nevertheless, Bard still gives ChatGPT a run for its money, even more so with its latest update.
New features
Users are now able to customise the format of their exchanges with Bard, such as toggling between over 40 languages and modifying the tone and style of its answers.
While the previous version of Bard also offered you the choice of perusing different drafts, the new update presents a more precise selection of your preferred mode of response.
If only we could do this with humans.
If you're more of an aural learner, you'll appreciate the sound icon that instructs Bard to voice its discourse.
Users can also save and revisit their chat history, as well as organise threads by pinning and renaming them.
The new Bard also lets you disclose its information through shareable links.
In addition, coders get to export Python code to Replit, on top of Google Colab in over 40 languages, while those with writer's block can upload photos for Bard to analyse and suggest captions.
Asking the real questions
We decided to put the new and improved Bard to the test with some questions that've been keeping us up at night.
We will now share some of them with you, so we can learn together.
Firstly, we found out that Bard gives passable relationship advice.
We asked Bard how to tell if our male Singaporean crush likes us.
Next, we quizzed Bard on its wealth of scientific knowledge. Purely for research purposes, of course.
We also chanced upon Bard's humorous side.
Finally, we gathered some useful tips for surviving the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
If only they had Bard in "The Walking Dead".
All in all, Bard's a pretty formidable adversary to ChatGPT, we would say.
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Top images via Mojahid Mottakin/Unsplash and Google, all images in body via Google
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