Mashable: Google is understandably concerned by ChatGPT's meteoric rise in popularity.

Google is looking for ways to persuade the public that it is at the forefront of artificial intelligence development. And so far, the internet behemoth appears to be providing the incorrect response. Over the course of many years, the search giant has remained unrivaled as the market leader in artificial intelligence. Microsoft has made significant advances in the AI competition in recent months, thanks to its new chatbot ChatGPT and its updated Microsoft Edge.

Google is understandably concerned by ChatGPT's meteoric rise in popularity. Google unveiled its own artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, to compete with this danger.

So what happened?

Microsoft hosted a surprise AI presentation yesterday where it demonstrated its AI-powered Bing search engine in real-time. Google, not wishing to be beaten, also showcased its AI chatbot on Twitter. However, things did not go according to plan. A day after Microsoft's AI-powered Bing live demonstration, Google tweeted a GIF of its own AI tool in operation. The GIF shows Bard answering the question, "What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9-year-old about?"

Bard is an experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA. Built using our large language models and drawing on information from the web, it’s a launchpad for curiosity and can help simplify complex topics → https://t.co/fSp531xKy3 pic.twitter.com/JecHXVmt8l

— Google (@Google) February 6, 2023
The AI tool immediately gave three suggestions, including the last one that says, "JWST took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our own solar system." These distant worlds are called "exoplanets." "Exo" means "from without." Although the information about exoplanets is correct, the claim that the JWST was the first to photograph them is inaccurate. This distinction was awarded to the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory in 2004, as confirmed by NASA, an error promptly pointed out by astronomers on Twitter.

Why didn't you fact check this example before sharing it? If you use Google to look stuff up you will see Bard has made errors. Try googling: "when was the first direct image of an exoplanet made?"

— Chris Harrison (@CMHarrisonAstro) February 7, 2023
"Why didn't you fact-check this example before sharing it?" A fellow at Newcastle University, Chris Harrison, responded to the tweet.

The impact

Google's parent company Alphabet's market value dropped by a whopping $100 billion on Wednesday, just after the demo and the pale Paris presentation. During regular trading, its shares fell as much as 9%, while those of rival Microsoft climbed roughly 3% before trimming gains. The company's presentation about how it planned to use AI in its products didn't seem to impress investors either.

Since OpenAI, supported by Microsoft, released updated ChatGPT software late last year, Google has come under increasing scrutiny. It immediately went viral since it assisted individuals in passing business school exams, writing song lyrics, and answering other types of questions.

Microsoft said this week that a new version of its Bing search engine, which has been behind Google for years, will use ChatGPT technology that is even better.

Investors have backed the push for artificial intelligence, but some have warned that releasing the technology too quickly could lead to mistakes, skewed results, and plagiarism.