Google Lauches Bard, Rival to ChatGPT
This week, Google launched its long-awaited AI service in the US and UK. Hoping to rival the popular ChatGPT, Bard’s waitlist has opened offering select users access. Google has however said that the roll out of this service will be slow and has not yet offered a public release date.
Much like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing chatbot, the service offers users a blank chat box and an invitation to ask any questions they might like to ask. Google has pointed out that Bard is not a direct replacement for search, but more of a “compliment to search”.
Within a blog post, two of the project leads on Bard described it as “an early experiment … intended to help people boost their productivity, accelerate their ideas, and fuel their curiosity”, and said it allows people to “collaborate with generative AI”.
As with most AI generator systems, Bard offers a warning under the empty chat box disclaiming that “Bard may display inaccurate or offensive information that doesn’t represent Google’s views”.
Would you use an AI text generator?
Find out more here.
Linking AI In
LinkedIn is incorporating AI tools for users to create job listings, profile summaries, and gain more opportunities to learn about AI tech on LinkedIn Learning.
Firstly, they have introduced a GPT-powered tool that will provide personalised writing suggestions when creating a LinkedIn profile. With premium, users can have GPT generate their headline or summary. Whilst this might save time, comb out key information for employers, or generate insightful ideas, there is the possibility that users’ summaries become carbon copies.
They are also trialling a GPT job description-writing tool, with employers typing in a title and company, to get a full job description to flesh out and edit.
Lastly, they are adding learning courses to help people with their AI skills, and making these freely available until the 15th June.
Find out more here.
Twitter Blue Subscribers’ Replies Prioritised
In the next phase of Elon Musks’ ‘Twitter 2.0’ plan, Twitter Blue subscribers will get priority of visibility for their replies, with the ranking of replies prioritised by people the user follows, then verified accounts, followed by unverified accounts.
However, so far this has not yet been implemented, as Twitter has had difficulty changing the code, which has been edited much over time.
Musk reported that the ‘algorithm’ is ‘overly complex and not fully understood internally’, and that ‘providing code transparency’, as he plans to do, ‘will be incredibly embarrassing at first.’
A small number of Twitter users produce the majority of tweets, and with 450,000 users currently paying for Twitter Blue, this could mean a slight sway in the opinions promoted, and information spread. But, this is only 0.18% of users, and only applies to replies… for now.
Find out more here.
TikTok Fights Bans Expanding
The BBC has called for staff to remove TikTok on corporate devices, in line with the Government’s decision to ban the app from all government devices last week. As a public sector organisation, partly funded by the government, it has taken precaution to delete the app unless necessary for business use, in order to protect the news source.
Meanwhile, in America, Tiktok has made a desperate plea to top advertisers, also roping in high-profile users, in order to sway the White House away from its potential consideration of a full ban of the app.
TikTok has been holding meetings with top advertisers in recent weeks, in order to reassure the industry, with no tangible success. The next stage of these discussions will likely be critical, with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew set to appear before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday.