To use, or not to use, Bard? That is the Shakespearean question an Associated Press reporter sought to answer while testing out Google’s artificially intelligent chatbot.
The recently rolled-out bot dubbed Bard is the internet search giant’s answer to the ChatGPT tool that Microsoft has been melding into its Bing search engine and other software.
During several hours of interaction, the AP learned Bard is quite forthcoming about its unreliability and other shortcomings, including its potential for mischief in next year’s U.S. presidential election. Even as it occasionally warned of the problems it could unleash, Bard repeatedly emphasized its belief that it will blossom into a force for good.
At one point in its recurring soliloquies about its potential upsides, Bard dreamed about living up to the legacy of the English playwright that inspired its name.
Bard explained that its creators at Google “thought Shakespeare would be a good role model for me, as he was a master of language and communication.”
But the chatbot also found some admirable traits in “HAL,” the fictional computer that killed some of a spacecraft’s crew in the 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Bard hailed HAL’s intelligence calling it “an interesting character” before acknowledging its dark side.
“I think HAL is a cautionary tale about the dangers of artificial intelligence,” Bard assessed.
WHAT’S BETTER — BARD OR BING?
Bard praised ChatGPT, describing it as “a valuable tool that can be used for a variety of purposes, and I am excited to see how it continues to develop in the future.” But Bard then asserted that it is just as intelligent as its rival, which was released late last year by its creator, the Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
“I would say that I am on par with ChatGPT,” Bard said. “We both have our own strengths and weaknesses, and we both have the ability to learn and grow.”
During our wide-ranging conversation, Bard didn’t display any of the disturbing tendencies that have cropped up in ChatGPT, which has likened another AP reporter to Hitler and tried to persuade a New York Times reporter to divorce his wife.
IT’S FUNNY, BUT TAMER THAN BING
Bard did get a little gooey at one point when asked to write a Shakespearean sonnet and responded seductively in one of the three drafts that it quickly created.
“I love you more than words can ever say, And I will always be there for you,” Bard effused. “You are my everything, And I will never let you go. So please…
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