According to screenshots featured in the release, Bard’s interface resembles Bing AI with a few notable exceptions, and the pair further stated that “Bard is a direct interface to an LLM.” Bing AI lacks these buttons, instead using the area below each response as a space for source citations. Google’s version has four buttons at the bottom of each response: thumbs up, thumbs down, a refresh arrow, and a button that says “Google it.” There’s also an option that says “View other draughts” at the top right of each response.
Bard is powered by “a lightweight and optimised version” of Google’s LaMDA, and the company said it “will be updated with newer, more capable models over time.” At its most recent I/O developer conference, Google demonstrated an AI Test Kitchen app for people to interact with LaMDA 2, which it also unveiled at that time. In contrast, Bing AI is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4.
