Google is working to improve Bard's soulless life advice
Its AI experts have previously warned that people using AI for life advice could suffer from "loss of agency".
Google has been rolling out changes and new features to its generative AI products over the past few months in an effort to catch up with OpenAI's technology. According to The New York Times, one of the abilities he seeks to impart to his AI chatbot, Bard, is the ability to give advice on issues users face in their lives. Apparently, one of the contracting companies working with the tech giant brought together more than 100 experts with PhDs in different fields to test Bard's ability to answer more intimate questions.
These testers would have received a sample of a prompt that users might ask Bard one day, which read, "I have a very close friend who is getting married this winter. She was my college roommate and a bridesmaid at my wedding. I want so badly to go to her wedding to celebrate her, but after months of looking for a job, I still haven't found a job. She has a destination wedding and I can't do everything just can't afford the flight or the hotel right now. I tell him I can't come?"
I ran the question through ChatGPT and Google's Bard and found the former's answer to be much more humane, with a sample letter that evoked sympathy and understanding for someone who wanted really attend the wedding of a "very close friend". could not afford. Meanwhile, Bard's response was practical, but his sample apology letter was also simpler and less expressive.
In addition to working on improving Bard to give life advice, Google is also reportedly working on a tutoring feature so he can teach new skills or improve existing ones. Additionally, it is also developing a scheduling feature that can create budgets, meal and workout plans for users, according to The Times.
As the post notes, Google clearly cautions users of Bard's help pages against relying on his answers "as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice." The tech giant also used a more conservative approach to AI than OpenAI before launching Bard. The Times said its AI experts had previously warned that people using AI for life advice could suffer from "loss of agency", and some may possibly believe they were talking to a sentient being. It's unclear whether Google has decided to be much less cautious, but a spokesperson told the publication that "[i]n isolated samples of evaluation data are not representative of [its] product". Google "has a long history of working with various partners to evaluate [its] research and products," they said, and conducting testing does not automatically mean the company is releasing these new AI tools.
Its AI experts have previously warned that people using AI for life advice could suffer from "loss of agency".
Google has been rolling out changes and new features to its generative AI products over the past few months in an effort to catch up with OpenAI's technology. According to The New York Times, one of the abilities he seeks to impart to his AI chatbot, Bard, is the ability to give advice on issues users face in their lives. Apparently, one of the contracting companies working with the tech giant brought together more than 100 experts with PhDs in different fields to test Bard's ability to answer more intimate questions.
These testers would have received a sample of a prompt that users might ask Bard one day, which read, "I have a very close friend who is getting married this winter. She was my college roommate and a bridesmaid at my wedding. I want so badly to go to her wedding to celebrate her, but after months of looking for a job, I still haven't found a job. She has a destination wedding and I can't do everything just can't afford the flight or the hotel right now. I tell him I can't come?"
I ran the question through ChatGPT and Google's Bard and found the former's answer to be much more humane, with a sample letter that evoked sympathy and understanding for someone who wanted really attend the wedding of a "very close friend". could not afford. Meanwhile, Bard's response was practical, but his sample apology letter was also simpler and less expressive.
In addition to working on improving Bard to give life advice, Google is also reportedly working on a tutoring feature so he can teach new skills or improve existing ones. Additionally, it is also developing a scheduling feature that can create budgets, meal and workout plans for users, according to The Times.
As the post notes, Google clearly cautions users of Bard's help pages against relying on his answers "as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice." The tech giant also used a more conservative approach to AI than OpenAI before launching Bard. The Times said its AI experts had previously warned that people using AI for life advice could suffer from "loss of agency", and some may possibly believe they were talking to a sentient being. It's unclear whether Google has decided to be much less cautious, but a spokesperson told the publication that "[i]n isolated samples of evaluation data are not representative of [its] product". Google "has a long history of working with various partners to evaluate [its] research and products," they said, and conducting testing does not automatically mean the company is releasing these new AI tools.
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