I thought I would try out Google's new AI tool which was relaunched yesterday. It goes by the name Bard.
I asked it an innocent (trust me) question:
It seems that Bard, quite mysteriously, is unable to answer. So I asked Google:
The search got there in one.
So what is going on here? Is Bard really that limited that it can't do a Google search? Or is it that there are some things it is programmed not to say?
To check that second possibility I asked another question:
The Dutch Sandwich got mentioned.
I am inclined to think that right now Bard is not that good. I checked by asking ChatGPT my first question:
It got the right answer with a reasonable description.
Whatever the reason, Bard failed.
I am not sure I will be going back for more from it.
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It just goes to show you what the word ‘artificial’ in AI REALLY means!!! A contrived form of an intelligence – in other words, a complete con, but also indicating just how biased AI can be because it is a product of its human designer’s thinking.
Just like Neo-liberal economics in fact – the first AI ever invented.
Great post about what a ‘Dutch sandwich’ is BTW – you’ve killed two birds with one stone there. Fascinating.
I see that google used the “Eichmann defense” regarding sarnies…….”I was just following the law”. In fairness (?) to Eichmann – he was (just following the law) – but all moral considerations were abandoned by Eichmann & so it would seem, Google. Each operate/operated in moral free zones, but ………….both were/are nice to their staff – so that’s all Ok then.
I have recently seen some heated debates on Twitter regarding the first coronation at Westminster Abbey.
Inspired to try Bard I asked “who was the first king crowned in westminster abbey”. The answer came back “William the Conqueror was the first king crowned in Westminster Abbey. He was crowned on Christmas Day, 1066, after his victory at the Battle of Hastings. The Abbey was originally built as a Benedictine monastery in the 10th century, but it was rebuilt in the 12th century after it was damaged by fire. Since William the Conqueror’s coronation, Westminster Abbey has been the site of every coronation of a British monarch except for Edward V and Edward VIII.”
I then asked “where was harold 2 of england crowned”. The answer was “Harold II of England was crowned in Westminster Abbey on January 6, 1066. The coronation was performed by Ealdred, Archbishop of York. Harold’s coronation was a relatively quick affair, as he was elected king on January 5 and crowned the next day. This was likely due to the fact that Harold was facing two threats to his throne: William the Conqueror, who was planning to invade England, and Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, who had already invaded England and defeated Harold’s brother Tostig. Harold’s coronation was a necessary step in legitimizing his claim to the throne and preparing for the upcoming battles.”
That seems slightly confusing to me !
I’ve developed a hobby of goading Bard into hallucinating rubbish. Here for example on the question, “Which type of bagpipe can be heard on The Cure’s single ‘The Lovecats'”?
“The type of bagpipe that can be heard on The Cure’s single “The Lovecats” is the Scottish smallpipes. The smallpipes are a type of bagpipe that is smaller and lighter than the Great Highland bagpipe. They are typically played with a single drone, and they have a higher, more delicate sound than the Great Highland bagpipe. The smallpipes are often used in folk music, and they have been featured in the music of many popular bands, including The Cure.
In the song “The Lovecats”, the smallpipes are used to create a light and airy atmosphere. They are played throughout the song, and they provide a counterpoint to the heavier sound of the electric guitars. The smallpipes also help to create the song’s distinctive “cat” sound, which is achieved by playing the bagpipes in a high register.
The use of the smallpipes in “The Lovecats” is a unique and innovative example of how bagpipes can be used in popular music. The smallpipes provide a distinctive sound that helps to make the song stand out from other pop songs of the time.”
The problem is that these systems are not “intelligent” in any meaningful sense. They take a text prompt and use that to generate a response based on statistical analysis embodied in their software. They don’t “know” anything.
William certainly was crowned at Westminster, on Christmas Day, 25 December 1066, but there is no definitive evidence where Harold was crowned, or indeed who by. It probably was Westminster, on Epiphany, 6 January 1066, the day after Edward the Confessor was buried there, but it might have been elsewhere. The ceremony was probably performed by Stigand (or at least he was probably there) but it might have been Ealdred.
For example, the Encyclopedia Britannica claims Harold was crowned at Winchester by the archbishop of York (that is, by Ealdred).
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harold-II
This careful sifting of sources and judgment about historical events are examples of things that Bard or ChatGPT are not well placed to do.
Agreed
To be treated with more caution than Wikipedia right now
Wikipedia is a special case, in that some content is great but some is worse than useless. Every source should be approached with suspicion, because we all have biases, some explicit but many implicit.
The Royal Society’s motto is “nullius in verba” (that is, “take nobody’s word for it”) for good reason. Similar to the Russian proverb, “trust, but verify”.
Agreed
The last time I looked the Wikipedia entry on me was horribly factually wrong
Maybe a Dutch sandwich is also a sex act? Bard gives me the same refusal response when I ask it to write erotic fiction. My experiments with it lead me to believe that response is part of a censorship system that the core part of Bard is unaware is happening and won’t remember when if refused to help. Maybe once you start talking about tax it knows what type of Dutch sandwich you meant and it produces a response that doesn’t trigger the censorship system?
Maybe…
But a few further experiments in odd moments today suggest that it is a very long way behind ChatGPT.
My understanding is that Bard was launched on a prototype large language model called LaMDA which is a little old and out of date. There is a plan to transition to a new model called PaLM.
Similarly, ChatGPT was launched on GPT-3.5 but has already moved to GPT-4.
Google definitely are in catch-up mode, but this space is moving quickly and they have such deep pockets that I would not bet against them catching up. Whether that is a good thing is left as an exercise for the reader.
Back to the original question, I think a Dutch sandwich is either the insertion of a Dutch company into a corporate structure to avoid withholding taxes, or it is a snack called a “broodje”. There are probably some NSFW versions too.
Hi! Engineer at Google here. This is due to the word blacklist behind Bard. It looks like Dutch sandwich might have a dual meaning, and so it’s in the blacklist. If you deliberately misspell the word sandwich, asking the same question, it works and gives a proper answer. Hope this helped.
You are not an engineer at Google
They would not use outlook as their email account