Google has continued its search for means to reassure users that it is still out in front in the race for the best artificial intelligence technology. However, it seems the internet giant has been coming up with the wrong answer.
As revealed, the advert designed by the firm to show off its new AI bot has been issuing incorrect answers to queries.
Occasioned by this development, shares in Google parent company, Alphabet has dropped by more than 7% on Wednesday. This resulted into the loss of over $100bn (£82bn) of the firm’s market value.
Recall that in the promotion video released by Google on Twitter on Monday, the bot was asked about what to tell a nine-year-old about discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope.
It however offered the response that the telescope was the first to take pictures of a planet outside the earth’s solar system, when in fact that milestone was claimed by the European Very Large Telescope in 2004 – a mistake quickly noted by astronomers on Twitter.
Worth noting that google has been under pressure since late last year when Microsoft-backed OpenAI unveiled new ChatGPT software. It quickly became a viral hit for its facility in passing business school exams, composing song lyrics, and answering other questions.
According to a Google spokesperson, the error highlighted “the importance of a rigorous testing process, something that we’re kicking off this week with our Trusted Tester program”.
“We’ll combine external feedback with our internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety, and roundedness in real-world information,” they said.
