Should you trust Google’s Chatbot?

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Head of Google’s UK branch Debbie Weinstein says people should google search to check whether the information provided by its chatbot, Bard, is actually accurate.

There has been some speculation and fear that the new chatbots (like Bard and ChatGPT) may replace traditional search, but many users have found the information they provide can be either wrong or entirely made up.

In an interview with the BBC, Weinstein said that Bard was “not really the place that you go to search for specific information”, and added that Bard should be considered an “experiment” best suited for “collaboration around problem-solving” and “creating new ideas”.

On Bard’s homepage, there is a disclaimer that it has “limitations and won’t always get it right”, but there is unfortunately no mention that all results should be checked using an actual search engine.

When ChatGPT took the world by storm in November 2022, with many chatbots following it, people started to question whether Google’s search business could be under threat, but also began a much wider debate about how artificial intelligence could reshape the world of business and work. There were even calls that it may threaten the future of humanity, which all sparked the global movement for AI regulation.

Many experts and enthusiasts have pointed to the economic opportunities AI offers, but Google says that many people currently don’t know how to pursue them.

According to the BBC, google released a report saying search interest in AI reached an all-time high in the UK in the first half of 2023, with the most searched “how to” question being “how to make money with AI”, with “how can AI help a business?” also featured prominently.

Google wants to help that lack of knowledge, so it is apparently launching a free online training series called “New Fundamentals”, which it claims can give people and businesses “practical skills and knowledge to capture the incredible benefits of AI”.