Google’s Bard Open For Sign-Ups if You Need an AI Collaborator in Life

Google opened up Bard for sign-ups today and there is already a waitlist that is likely extensive. If your life needs an AI chatbot to talk to, you might as well throw your name on the list for this latest Google experiment.

What is Google Bard, you ask, since we haven’t mentioned it at any point to date? Well, I’m no AI expert, but the basics are that our tech overlords have all created artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots that are quite smart and can be helpful (or maybe controversial) in helping you do things, be more creative, or provide deeper answers to topics than you might get from a search engine.

They arrive in a familiar format that looks like a search engine with a chat box that lets you type whatever you want to initiate a conversation with the bot. You can ask questions, talk about your day, etc.

The big names in the game at the moment at ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing. I’d imagine you’ve heard of these at some point in recent months if you are at all plugged into tech. Google Bard is a competitor in this space.

That’s all a pretty vague explanation, and since I haven’t used any of these products, I can’t share personal experiences. What I can do is show you what Google says about Bard’s potential. But as you take all of this in, you need to keep in mind that Google (and the others) are aware that these AI chatbots will make mistakes, are experiments to be tested and not fully trusted, and that there are safeguards in place so that you don’t try and create a robot army to take over the world. Here’s the full Bard FAQ.

Here are the examples of uses for Bard in a write-up from Google that’s probably worth reading:

Productivity

We believe users will be able to maximize their time by collaborating with Bard. For example, say a user is
planning a party; Bard can help them come up with their to-do list and draft an outline of the invitation —
helping free up the user’s time and brainspace to dedicate to higher-level tasks.

Creativity

Bard can also help bring a user’s ideas to life or spark their creativity in new ways. For example, if a user is
writing a blog post, Bard can outline it — providing a starting point so they do not have to face a blank page. We also see Bard inspire creativity by generating poems, short stories, taglines and other imaginative
endeavors.

Curiosity

Bard can be a jumping off point for users’ curiosity as they explore ideas or topics of interest. For instance,
Bard can explain a complex concept simply or surface relevant insights on a topic, which might inspire a
user to explore and learn more.

And here’s what a response from Bard might look like:

So that’s Google Bard. If you want to sign-up to gain access, you can do so at bard.google.com.