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DeepMind a division of Google, will soon release a more mature ChatGPT competitor.

DeepMind, a Google subsidiary, plans to launch a ChatGPT competitor soon, and its chatbot promises to be a safer type of AI assistant. DeepMind, which was acquired by Google nine years ago, has been a pioneer in AI research for the last decade. Despite the recent focus on ChatGPT.

DeepMind is considering its chatbot, Sparrow, for a "private beta" sometime in 2023. Sparrow was introduced to the world last year as a proof-of-concept in a research paper that described it as a "dialogue agent that's useful and reduces the risk of unsafe and inappropriate answers". Despite some reservations about the potential dangers of chatbots, which DeepMind describes as "inaccurate or invented information," Sparrow appears to be ready to take flight in beta form soon. Given DeepMind's close relationship with Google, it may become the search giant's answer to ChatGPT.

Demis Hassabis attributes the slight delay in Sparrow's release to DeepMind's desire to ensure it has essential features that ChatGPT lacks, most notably, citing specific sources. "It's right to be cautious on that front,". Sparrow will be more constrained and conservative at first than ChatGPT. The latter has gone viral due to its impressive ability to assist everyone from

coders to armchair poets. Still, it has also raised concerns due to its discriminatory comments and malware-writing abilities. DeepMind has talked up the behavior-constraining rules that Sparrow's built on, along with its willingness to decline to answer questions in "contexts where it is appropriate to defer to humans".

Sparrow appeared to provide a plausible answer and, crucially, supported it with evidence "78% of the time when asked a factual question" in early tests. However, its true capabilities will be revealed when the public beta is released later this year. We'll pop some popcorn for the first AI chatbot debate between the Google-affiliated Sparrow and the increasingly Microsoft-friendly ChatGPT. Anyone who has used ChatGPT will know that it can emulate intelligence on various subjects. While that is certainly entertaining, AI chatbots also require moral intelligence and the ability to cite sources - and DeepMind claims its Sparrow 'dialogue agent' excels in these areas.

Taking this to the next level will necessitate a large amount of external input, which is why a Sparrow public beta is on the horizon. DeepMind says that developing better rules for its AI assistant "will require both expert input on many topics and participatory input from a diverse array of users and affected groups". Similarly, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (which created ChatGPT), has spoken about the challenges of opening up AI chatbots without causing collateral damage. He admitted on Twitter (opens in new tab) that "there will be significant problems with the use of OpenAI tech over time; we will do our best but will not be able to anticipate every issue."

In other words, the ChatGPT and DeepMind's Sparrow developers are like parents with inquisitive toddlers, which brings both fun and danger - especially when their kindergarten teacher is effectively the entire internet. ChatGPT is already in full swing and on its way to becoming monetized with the impending release of ChatGPT Professional, a paid-for tier. However, DeepMind's Sparrow appears to be the more mild-mannered character that AI chatbots require as they race toward next-generation models such as the rumored ChatGPT-4.