Google’s Bard Understands Me.
Google Bard is now available and here is what I found fascinating.
We’ve been playing around with LLM models for a while now. Botcopy’s fascination for how chatbots communicate is a big part of our origin story. Over the past few months, we’ve all seen OpenAI tremendous momentum for the conversational AI space in GPT3 and now GPT4.
As a Google Partner, we’ve been patiently waiting to unveil our thoughts on the new Gen AI technology Google has been working on. While their models have touched several products, such as workspace, maps, and Vertex AI, our particular interest remains within Contact Center AI and chatbots.
Google’s use of Gen AI within Dialogflow will be announced in the coming weeks, and we have several integrations ready for you to test when it is here. For updates, please join our slack community.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Bard for the first time. In the past, I have challenged LLM models to create stories, posts, tweets, and arguments for me. All of which have been extremely impressive.
Yesterday’s experiment was a bit different. Do LLM models genuinely understand me? I dug up a short story I wrote over five years ago (full story below if you want to read it).
Instead of asking Bard to revise this story, I wanted to know if it understood the moral. So here is Bard’s response:
The moral of the story is that it is important to pay attention to the beauty in the world around us, even when it is fleeting. The gardener in the story takes the time to appreciate her flowers, even though they will only bloom for a short time. The author encourages us to do the same, by taking the time to appreciate the people and things around us that make life beautiful.
The story also reminds us that even though life can be difficult, there is always hope for the future. The gardener comes home to a new bloom every day, a reminder that even after a hard day, there is always something to look forward to.
Overall, the story is a reminder to appreciate the beauty in the world around us and to never give up hope.
In communication, nuanced understanding and an ability to read between the lines is vital. Google’s Bard has some impressive ability at this!
Google’s Dialogflow — the sophisticated Dialogflow management framework Botcopy integrates with — uses an NLU model — a term that now pre-dates the new LLM craze. (NLU stands for Natural Language Understanding.) So while the generative text responses have been fascinating in the past, I was concerned that they might not understand the deeper meaning of a user’s query. After all, it’s crucial to understand the context of a customer’s relationship with your business or their current support needs.
As it turns out, Bard exceeded my expectations and gave me confidence that Google’s Generative AI, in tandem with Dialogflow, will soon be a game changer for customer support.
Moreover, Botcopy will support Google’s CCAI Gen AI integrations and soon render several response types in Botcopy Messenger. Stay tuned, and let me know what you think about Bard’s take on the short story below!
The Gardener & the Rose
Pay attention. Today, distractions are like wildflowers sprouting effortlessly from any medium. We often find ourselves overwhelmed with the fear of the future or peaking from our past. Walking down the street, you are more likely to see the bald spot of a stranger’s head looking down at his phone to avoid a friendly “good afternoon” or headphones shadowing the city’s ambient sounds. These beautiful moments are commonly overlooked and taken advantage of, but if you pay attention, there are hidden messages within their details.
I’ve known Sarah for seven years now. On Wednesday, she would stay at her father’s place, my daily route to work. She was always busy taking care of her garden. I’m not sure if her smile or humming made it so lush, but she loved dedicating time to its beauty.
Our first encounter felt like she and I had known each other for years. That, or she had mistaken me for someone else. She would wave, say good morning, and stop me for small talk. Our interaction as acquaintances, sharing the same Wednesday morning commute, became a unique friendship. I’m sure many people walked past Sarah, blind to her kindness and warmth because of her social differences, allowing led lights and a glass screen to buffer unwanted conversations with a friendly stranger.
I started to notice the relationship between the gardener and the rose. Their moments of fame are quick. The long process of a rose unraveling its peddles and showcasing its true beauty is short-lived. Weather, gravity, children at play, and becoming a centerpiece are continual triumphs the rose faces.
Despite these factors, the gardener continues to dedicate time to its beauty, knowing that the flower will bloom once again. Perhaps different, but once again. While on the other hand, with accomplishments at work, vacations, and high times the gardener has, may also be faint. After a hard day, the gardener comes home to a new bloom. A small but beautiful reminder that tomorrow may not be gloomy.I walked away from Sarah and our conversation with a smile that made my cheeks sore. She might not have known, but the relationship between Sarah and her garden was inspiring. I stopped wearing my headphones to work that day. Instead, I gave horns, gossiping streetwalkers, wind as it cut through my hair, and the saxophone player across the street my attention.
