Intro to Bard

TL;DR -- ChatGPT has been on our radar since February of 2023. Bard has been a recent interest. We will be comparing these two. In this post, we provide the trace of our interchange with Bard. Future post will carry the discussion further. 

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We have looked at ChatGPT of OpenAI, a few times, starting in February of this year. In our first interchange, we had to tell ChatGPT about Thomas Gardner of Salem MA. Since then, we have used it for a few other subjects, including some arithmetic/algebraic problems. 

Of late, Google has been allowing testing with Bard, its generative large language model. We have compared the two approaches.  

Turns out that ChatGPT is problematic but has the personality (adopted by choice of the designers) of someone who knows it all. It can even be argumentative. 

Bard, on the other hand, is more circumspect as one would expect. It says that it can, and does. fail. And, has other warnings about its use. 

Today, we asked Bard some questions with respect to Thomas Gardner. The trace is below with the questions and answers marked. 

----------------------   Bard interchange ------------------------------

In your training, did you run across Thomas Gardner of Salem?

Yes, I did. Thomas Gardner of Salem was a prominent figure in the early history of Massachusetts. He was one of the "old planters" who founded the colony at Naumkeag (now Salem) in 1626. He served as a deputy to the Massachusetts Bay General Court and was a member of the Salem church. He was also the father of nine children, including Samuel Gardner, who was a prominent merchant and landowner in Salem.

Thomas Gardner was born in Sherborne, Dorset, England, in 1592. He came to America in 1624 as part of the Dorchester Company, which was granted a charter to colonize Cape Ann. The company's first settlement was at Wessagassett (now Gloucester), but it was abandoned in 1626 due to poor soil conditions. Gardner and the other planters then moved to Naumkeag, which was renamed Salem in 1629.

Gardner was a successful merchant and landowner in Salem. He owned a large farm and several buildings in the town. He also served as a deputy to the Massachusetts Bay General Court from 1637 to 1658. In 1644, he was one of the founders of the Salem church.

Gardner died in Salem in 1674. He was buried in the Gardner Burying Ground, which is now part of Harmony Grove Cemetery. His gravestone is no longer extant, but his name is listed on a memorial plaque in the cemetery.

I am glad that I was able to learn about Thomas Gardner of Salem in my training. He was a significant figure in the early history of Massachusetts, and his story is an important part of the state's heritage.

What about the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc.?

The Thomas Gardner Society, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1999 to promote the study of the Gardner family and its history. The society publishes a quarterly newsletter, Gardner's Beacon, and organizes genealogical conferences and workshops. It also maintains a website with a wealth of information on the Gardner family, including biographies, family trees, and historical documents.

The society's mission is to "foster interest in the Gardner family, to promote the study of its history, and to preserve its records." It does this through a variety of activities, including:

• Publishing a quarterly newsletter, Gardner's Beacon
• Organizing genealogical conferences and workshops
• Maintaining a website with a wealth of information on the Gardner family
• Providing grants to researchers studying the Gardner family
• Promoting the preservation of Gardner family records

The Thomas Gardner Society is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Gardner family. Its website is a great place to start your research, and its newsletter and conferences are a great way to connect with other Gardner researchers. If you are interested in learning more about the society, you can visit its website at https://thomasgardnersociety.org/.

Here are some of the specific things that the Thomas Gardner Society does:

• Publishes a quarterly newsletter, Gardner's Beacon. The newsletter contains articles on the Gardner family, book reviews, and news about the society's activities.
• Organizes genealogical conferences and workshops. These events provide opportunities for Gardner researchers to share their findings and learn from each other.
• Maintains a website with a wealth of information on the Gardner family. The website includes biographies, family trees, historical documents, and links to other resources.
• Provides grants to researchers studying the Gardner family. The society offers grants to help researchers with the cost of travel, research materials, and publication.
• Promotes the preservation of Gardner family records. The society works to ensure that Gardner family records are properly preserved and made available to researchers.

The Thomas Gardner Society is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Gardner family. Its website is a great place to start your research, and its newsletter and conferences are a great way to connect with other Gardner researchers. If you are interested in learning more about the society, you can visit its website at https://thomasgardnersociety.org/.

Again, more subtle in expression?

Sure, here is a more subtle description of the Thomas Gardner Society:

The Thomas Gardner Society is a non-profit organization that aims to promote the study of the Gardner family and its history. It does this through a variety of activities, including publishing a quarterly newsletter, organizing genealogical conferences and workshops, and maintaining a website with a wealth of information on the Gardner family.

The society's website is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Gardner family, as it provides access to a wide range of information, including biographies, family trees, and historical documents. The society also organizes events that allow Gardner researchers to connect with each other and share their findings.

The Thomas Gardner Society is a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning more about the Gardner family. Its website and events are a great way to connect with other Gardner researchers and to learn more about the history of this important family.

Here are some of the specific things that the Thomas Gardner Society does, expressed in a more subtle way:

• Publishes a quarterly newsletter, Gardner's Beacon. The newsletter provides updates on the society's activities and features articles on the Gardner family.
• Organizes genealogical conferences and workshops. These events offer opportunities for Gardner researchers to share their findings and learn from each other.
• Maintains a website with a wealth of information on the Gardner family. The website includes biographies, family trees, historical documents, and links to other resources.

I hope this is more subtle. Let me know if you have any other questions.

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As to the veracity of these responses, we will be looking at that. The next post looks at this activity plus research findings that will be use for testing these approaches. In this case, we will need to get Bard updated. Getting that done will be an interesting exercise. 

Remarks: Modified: 08/26/2023

08/08/2023 -- Several articles in the Communications of the ACM give some good insights. For one, these things are terribly expensive to train, using lots of bucks and kilo-watts of power plus adding gobs and gobs of CO2 to the environment. Then, they "hallucinate" and approach success of truthful response about 80% of the time. Or did. As there is a concept called "drift" that indicates that further training which would improve matters actually make them worse.