There’s a lot of hype right now around Google’s latest development – Bard, an AI-powered search engine assistant. This begs the question: can Google Bard connect to the internet?
Well, let’s find out!
Firstly, it’s important to know that although essentially an experiment at this stage, Bard is designed to be a sort of search engine assistant, to augment the searching process.
However it is, fundamentally, a language model, just like ChatGPT.
Bard, like a search engine, has to use the internet so that it can search through swathes of information, and pull the most up-to-date and relevant information for the user.
Thus, to competently work in conjunction with Google search, it must be able to connect to the internet.
So yes, in short, Bard can connect to the internet.
There are a number of reasons why this is the case…
Jasper AI
Copy AI
Originality AI detector
Why can Google Bard connect to the internet?
Primarily, so that it works seamlessly alongside Google.
With Google being a huge search engine pulling in information from all over the world in every search, for Bard to work in tandem it needs internet connection.
With being able to access the internet on demand Bard could, for example, take an educated guess as to which team is most likely to win the Superbowl, or summarize major news headlines for a given day.
That being said, there are certain limits as to the data that Bard can access.
This data has to be publicly available on the internet, so if a user asks a very specific question, there is a chance Bard will not be able to respond very helpfully.
Let’s dive into more reasons for and against this connection to the internet.
Advantages and disadvantages of Google Bard’s internet access
One big thing that makes Google Bard fairly unique is its ability to respond to real-time prompts. This key feature hinges on the model being connected to the internet.
Many other AI competitors, like OpenAI’s GPT models are not connected to the internet, and are thus limited as to what data they can draw upon to inform their responses.
Read More: Google Bard vs ChatGPT – what are the differences?
This sets apart Bard from other competitors.
On the other hand, Google repeatedly acknowledges that Bard may display “harmful or offensive content,” which is clearly a huge drawback for the platform.
We speculate that this is partially why Bard is currently only available to those over 18.
As well as such harmful or offensive content, Bard is liable to spreading misinformation, again due to its reliance on internet access.
It’s safe to say that nowadays, there is plenty of misinformation and fake news floating around the web. If Bard were to cite this in a response to a prompt, it could be a pretty big problem.
To summarize, it’s clear that Bard not only can connect to the internet, but is to a large degree reliant upon it.
Whether or not this is a good thing, that’s for you to decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Google Bard do?
Google Bard essentially uses data from the internet to respond to a wide array of user prompts, with a human-like character.
Is Google Bard a chatbot?
Yes, but with some slight differences to other chatbots such as ChatGPT. Bard can use internet data to make its responses more comprehensive and educational.
