Can you sign up for Google's new Bard AI search tool? What to know

Everybody is hopping on the ChatGPT bandwagon, including Google. But you can't play with Google's new toy just yet.

Earlier this week, Google announced Bard, its answer to ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing generative AI search model. You give it a prompt and it comes back with a detailed, seemingly well researched answer. At least, that's how it works in theory.

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Right now, unfortunately, there's no way for most people to find out how well Bard actually works. According to a company blog post, Google has only put it in the hands of "trusted testers," but will make it more available to the public "in the coming weeks."

So, that's a bit of a bummer if you wanted to dive head-first into Bard and try to make it say hilarious things for social media likes. That said, it's not the end of the world for the AI-curious.

How to use Microsoft's Bing AI chatbot in the meantime

If you want another AI bot to try, Microsoft has your back. Sort of.

Microsoft's Bing search engine is also getting a generative AI bot that will answer prompts like "write a rhyming poem" or "create a three-course menu." Unfortunately, it's also not fully available to the public yet. However, there's still a way you can eventually get a foot in the door.

Simply go to the Bing AI page and click on "Join the waitlist" to, well, join the waitlist. You'll have to log into a Microsoft account and follow the instructions from there, but that's simple enough. Hopefully, sometime down the road, you'll get access to Bing's AI search tools.