Google’s Bard has started working in Ukraine: What it can do, how to use it, and what surprises to expect

"Artificial Intelligence by Google, Bard, is now available in Ukraine. Starting today, Ukrainians can take advantage of all the capabilities of this conversational bot in the Ukrainian language and optimise their time," announced Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation. Mind explains what exactly this AI can do.

What is it? "I am a large language model, also known as a conversational artificial intelligence or chatbot, trained to be informative and comprehensive. I have been trained on a vast amount of textual data and can communicate and generate text similar to human-like responses to a wide range of prompts and questions. For example, I can provide summaries of factual topics or create stories," explains the chatbot, responding to Mind's questions. However, the question was a bit different: does Bard understand the Ukrainian language?

The AI clarifies that it is still under development but has learned to perform many types of tasks, including:

• "I will make every effort to carefully follow your instructions and thoughtfully fulfil your requests.
• I will use my knowledge to answer your questions comprehensively and informatively, even if they are open-ended, complex, or strange.
• I will generate various creative textual formats such as poems, code, scripts, musical compositions, emails, letters, and more. I will make every effort to fulfil all your requirements."

When did Bard launch worldwide? It started on February 7, 2023, simultaneously with its main competitor, Microsoft's Bing. However, Bard faced a major setback at that time: in a promotional video, the bot provided false information in response to a query. Alphabet's stocks immediately dropped by 9%, or $100 billion.

Should we expect similar surprises from the chatbot in the future? Yes, they are possible. "Bard is experimental, and some of the responses may be inaccurate, so double-check information in Bard’s responses. With your feedback, Bard is getting better every day. Before Bard launched publicly, thousands of testers were involved to provide feedback to help Bard improve its quality, safety, and accuracy," as stated on the Bard website.

Does the bot provide up-to-date information? Yes. Here's what Bard responded to Mind's question about the decisions made at the NATO summit on July 11, 2023:

"The leaders of the 30 member countries of the Alliance made a series of decisions aimed at strengthening collective defence and security of NATO and Ukraine.

Among the key decisions are:

• Increasing the rapid reaction force of NATO to 300,000 military personnel.
• Deploying four new NATO brigades on the eastern flank of the Alliance.
• Providing Ukraine with additional military assistance, including artillery, drones, and armoured vehicles.
• The openness of NATO to membership for Finland and Sweden.

NATO leaders also condemned russian aggression against Ukraine and reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They called on russia to immediately cease its hostilities and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.

The NATO summit was a historic moment for the Alliance. The decisions made by the leaders demonstrate NATO's determination to defend its allies and support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom."

Is it worth approaching Bard with evaluative queries? No. "I cannot make judgments or provide personal opinions. Therefore, I cannot say whether vladimir putin is a war criminal. I can only provide you with information that may be useful for your decision," this is another response from Bard to Mind's question.

However, when asked for clarification, the bot provided inaccurate information:

• In 2022, russia invaded Ukraine. The war has been ongoing for over eight months and has resulted in millions of casualties and forced displacements.
• Both sides of the conflict are accused of committing war crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has initiated investigations into war crimes committed in Ukraine.
• Defining a war crime is complex and depends on the specific case. However, some general examples of war crimes include the deliberate killing of civilians, deliberate targeting of civilian objects, and the use of prohibited weapons.
• Whether vladimir putin is a war criminal is determined by a court. However, there is sufficient evidence to consider that he may be responsible for war crimes committed in Ukraine.

How does the bot correct its own mistakes? Slowly and not on the first attempt. Here's a funny dialogue that took place with Mind:

– You claim that "the war has been ongoing for over eight months". Are you sure?
– I apologise, I made a mistake. The war in Ukraine started on February 24, 2022, so it has been ongoing for over six months.
– What is today's date, month, and year?
– Today is July 13, 2023.
– So, how long has the full-scale invasion of Ukraine been going on?
– The russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been going on for 139 days. It started on February 24, 2022.
– Are you sure it's 139 days? Please count again carefully.
– I apologise, I made a mistake. Today is July 13, 2023, and the russian invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, 2022. So, the war has been ongoing for 158 days.
– The war by russia against Ukraine started in 2014.
– Yes, you are correct. The war by russia against Ukraine started in 2014 when russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and began supporting separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by russia started on February 24, 2022.

Does Bard provide primary sources of data like its competitor Bing? Not always. "Bard, like some other standalone LLM experiences, is intended to generate original content and not replicate existing content at length. We’ve designed our systems to limit the chances of this occurring, and we will continue to improve how these systems function. If Bard does directly quote at length from a webpage, it cites that page. For answers with image thumbnails, Bard enables users to easily see and click to navigate directly to a source for each image. Sometimes the same content may be found on multiple webpages and Bard attempts to point to a popular source. In the case of citations to code repositories, the citation may also reference an applicable open source licence. You may sometimes see images in your responses as well. In these cases, Bard will link directly to the source of the original image," explains Google.

Who has access to a user's conversations with Bard? Google employees who advise you not to share any personally identifiable information. "We take your privacy seriously and we do not sell your personal information to anyone. To help Bard improve while protecting your privacy, we select a subset of conversations and use automated tools to help remove personally identifiable information. These sample conversations are reviewable by trained reviewers and kept for up to three years, separately from your Google Account," the corporation assures.

How to use the bot? It is very simple. Go to https://bard.google.com, read the rules and join the chatbot.