--- title: "Google’s Demo of Upcoming AI Shows It Making Huge Factual Mistake" description: "As spotted by Reuters, Google's upcomign AI chatbot Bard is already spewing misinformation — right in its own promotional screenshots." date: "2023-02-08" modified: "2023-02-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-demo-bard-ai-mistake" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "ai chatbot" - "bard" - "chatgpt" - "Google" - "the digest" --- # Google’s Demo of Upcoming AI Shows It Making Huge Factual Mistake ![As spotted by Reuters, Google's upcomign AI chatbot Bard is already spewing misinformation — right in its own promotional screenshots.]() *\Image: Google/Futurism\* ## FAIlure to Launch Google's [ChatGPT competitor called Bard]() — which doesn't even have a launch date yet — is already off to a rough start. As [spotted by *Reuters*](), Google's chatbot is already spewing misinformation — right in the company's own promotional demo. "Google just announced they’re going to be rolling out AI search results and there is inaccurate information IN THE AD COPY!" science communicator and author Hank Green [tweeted](). ## False Statements It's a picture-perfect example of the current state of AI chatbot tech. While they're extremely good at generating plausible-*sounding* responses, contemporary large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's GPT and ChatGPT are still largely unable to differentiate truth from fiction. And that bodes badly, because tech giants including Microsoft and Google [are racing]() each other to deploy these LLMs in their widely-used search engines — potentially filling the internet with complete garbage. Case in point, a [short video]() of Google's new feature, which the company's official account shared on Twitter earlier this week, contains some glaring issues. One whopper: the blatantly false statement that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope took the first picture of an exoplanet, or a planet outside of our solar system. In fact, as [NASA is the first to admit](), the first exoplanet to be imaged, a Jupiter-like planet orbiting the brown dwarf 2M1207, was captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) back in 2004, 16 years before the James Webb started observations. ## Bad Start This morning, the search giant [revealed]() it will include generative AI answers in some of its search results, but still has yet to reveal when the public will gain access to the feature. All we know is that the wider public will have access "[in the coming weeks]()." Investors were clearly not impressed, with Alphabet shares dipping nearly eight percent so far today. In short, it's a worrying start in advanced AI for the largest search engine in existence, when a highly anticipated new feature is already spreading lies before even being launched to the public. "Natural. Language. Processors. Can. Not. Know. When. They. Are. Lying," Green [added]() in a follow-up tweet. **READ MORE:** [Google AI chatbot Bard offers inaccurate information in company ad]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Bard:** *[Google Officially Announces ChatGPT Competitor Called "Bard"]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()