Alphabet Chairman "Google Bard Hastily Released to Showcase Technology Similar to ChatGPT"

"Not Ready to Release as a Product Yet"
Criticism Continues Over Bard's Inaccurate Responses

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Alphabet Chairman John Hennessy, the parent company of Google, said that Google revealed Bard, an AI chatbot, to show that it has similar technology despite not being fully prepared, after receiving criticism that the announcement of Bard was 'premature.'

According to CNBC and others on the 13th (local time), Chairman Hennessy made these remarks at an event held in Mountain View, California. He said, "I think Google hesitated to commercialize Bard because they judged it was not yet ready to be released as a product," adding, "However, I think it is an excellent technology as a means to explain that they have the technology."

John Hennessy, Chairman of Alphabet Board of Directors

Hennessy, who became Alphabet's board chairman following former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt in 2018, served as a professor at Stanford University from 2000 to 2016. He is a computer scientist, IT scholar, and entrepreneur.

Although there is a boom in generative AI like Bard and ChatGPT, Hennessy predicted that it will take another one to two years before these tools become genuinely useful in people's daily lives. After ChatGPT, released in November last year, captured public attention and achieved great success, IT companies have been releasing AI chatbots one after another, but due to various issues, it will take some time before they can be widely used in everyday life.

Hennessy said that Google delayed the release of its AI chatbot competitor because it still produces incorrect answers. Google has previously faced difficulties providing inaccurate information on some of its most widely used products, such as YouTube and Search. He added that the tech industry needs to act more carefully regarding various situations created in civil society.

In an interview with CNBC on the same day, Hennessy also said, "I think this model (AI chatbot) is still in its early stages," and added, "We are figuring out how to bring it to the product stage and respond sensitively to issues like accuracy and toxicity (providing problematic information)," noting, "I think the industry is struggling with this."

However, Hennessy expressed that he was deeply impressed by ChatGPT and that it is moving faster than he expected. He said, "I was amazed not only by its ability to interpret questions but also by the quality of its natural language responses," and added, "At the same time, I was deeply impressed that it can do many things well, even at a superficial level."

Hennessy's remarks came amid Google's recent difficulties following the Bard announcement. Before demonstrating Bard in Paris, France, on the 8th, Google released a teaser video, but the answer Bard provided was found to be erroneous, putting the company in an awkward position. Its stock price plummeted more than 10%, and internal criticism poured in, saying it was 'too hasty,' 'messed up,' and 'uncharacteristic of Google.'

Meanwhile, Microsoft (MS), riding on the success of ChatGPT, has attracted significant attention after announcing plans to integrate an AI chatbot into its search engine Bing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.