Google’s Bard Experiment and the Rehabilitation of Ernie Bot

Google launched Bard, the search giant’s answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing Chat. Unlike Bing Chat, Bard does not search search results: all the information it returns is generated by the model itself. But it’s still designed to help users think things through and answer questions. Google wants Bard to be an integral part of the Google search experience.

The company is now making the chatbot available to early adopters who sign up for a waitlist, to help test and improve the technology in what they say is still an experience.

But experts fear that portraying Bard as an experiment is a public relations trick that big companies use to reach millions of customers while evading responsibility if something goes wrong. Read the full story.

—Will Douglas Heaven

The bearable mediocrity of Baidu’s ChatGPT competitor

When Baidu revealed Ernie Bot last week, ChatGPT’s top Chinese rival was met with an almost overwhelming wave of disappointment. Chinese publications with test access ridiculed the chatbot’s performance, social media users mocked it with memes, and Baidu shares fell 6.4%.

But a curious thing has happened since last week’s launch: Ernie Bot’s reputation seems to have rebounded. More and more Chinese journalists have gained access to the chatbot, and there has been a general realization that Ernie Bot is probably good enough for the Chinese market. Read the full story.