AI supremacy and the battle of the chat bot

Should we be concerned about the corporate motivations, governance and funding streams behind the most popular AI platforms? If you’ve been experimenting with ChatGPT, Bing Chat or played around with Bard in the last few weeks you might be interested in why so many similar natural language processing platforms have emerged, seemingly competing with one another for our air time. So what’s the deal with chat bots and who or what is behind their development? Of course, I turned to AI to help me find out. 

Interestingly, Chat GPT (developed by Open AI) and Bing Chat (developed by Microsoft) are both heavily funded by…Microsoft. New kid on the block Bard, on the other hand, was released by Google, suggesting that competition is heating up. AI leads me to an article that indicates the power dynamic between Microsoft and Google is a little skewed. Google has 84% of the global market share for internet searching right now (they have spawned the verb  “google” after all). But, since AI natural language processing tools like Chat GPT have come onto the market, the way we go about internet searching may drastically change. As Microsoft has its hands in a number of AI pies, this may be disrupting Google’s historical dominance in the search engine arena. With headlines such as “Google fights back”, we can assume there is some serious corporate jostling and lots of money expended by Google to keep up. And while we’re talking about money, AI tells me that Google is just ahead of Microsoft in Forbes 200 list, suggesting that Microsoft’s investment in AI might contribute to leveling the playing field in terms of revenue streams. Will we have a new verb (“binging” doesn’t seem like it will catch on) to describe our internet searching in the future and what might be the implications of such an AI ‘arms race’?  

AI may up-end a decades-long status quo of Google dominance. With the power balance of US big tech seemingly amassing in the hands of Microsoft, what could be the implications? Firstly, due to Microsoft’s longstanding dominance in technology development over 40 years, historical engagement with regulatory agencies and the social and humanitarian commitments of founder Bill Gates, there has been some speculation the company hasn’t received the same level of scrutiny as other big tech. A lack of regulatory oversight is particularly concerning when it comes to our data and privacy. With Microsoft’s current advantage in natural language processing technology, there is cause to pause and think about the regulatory rigor applied to the company  and what other governance frameworks at the national or global level might be required to ensure consumer safety more broadly. Secondly, if we follow the money, it seems that Google has a lot to lose if Microsoft is allowed to control the search engine market, especially with suggestions that Samsung may replace default search engines on their devices to Bing. This would result in substantial profit losses for Google and parent company Alphabet. 

Bing chat tells me that knowing who funds AI development is important because it can help us understand the motivations and associated risks with using a particular technology. A company that is primarily focused on maximizing profits (see above) may be less concerned with the social and ethical implications of their AI technologies. And concerns abound about AI’s impact on the labour market and its potential for superintelligence just to name a few. A little bit of competition can be good, and AI tells me that the Microsoft-Google rivalry encourages innovation and creativity and may lead to better products and services in the long run for us, the consumers. Well in theory at least. Although, Bing Chat tells me that Microsoft is focused on developing transparent and ethical AI systems, can we trust this AI to be truthful about its parent (company) to strangers on the internet? And if AI technology is evolving so quickly, are the right checks and balances in place to ensure user safety? Considering that Microsoft and Google are investing in AI development at surprising speeds, driven by corporate profit margins and a competition mindset, we should consider what unfettered and potentially unregulated growth of AI could lead to in the short and long term and closely monitor if ongoing frenetic innovation in AI leads to a broad public good or not.  

What we can be certain of is that things move extraordinary quickly in this space. With AI evolving every week, we can certainly see how this particular big tech rivalry is propelling us quickly into a world where AI is absolutely everywhere and unavoidable. 

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