2023 is looking a lot like the year of AI. After Microsoft released its ChatGPT 4-powered Bing chatbot that took the internet by storm, Google was forced into a reactive mode, struggling to get a competent answer up and running as soon as possible. That’s how we ended up with Google’s weird and thrown-togetherLive from Paris eventin February, which it used to reiterate on all the places it has added AI all while also showing off its ownAI-powered chatbot, Bard. And this week, Google has finallyunleashed that beast for early testers in the US and UK, with a sign-up page now live.
These new AI-powered chatbots aren’t without their faults, though. Any of these AI tools are, in essence, nothing but a recursive large language model (LLM). This means that, heavily simplified, these tools are just really good at predicting what word is most likely to follow next, without necessarily having actual knowledge, at least as we would define it, of any topic you ask them about. Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft are working on combating overly confident false answers and other quirks, but it’s clear that we’re still in the early days.
This isn’t necessarily a bad place to be right now, if you’re in it for some entertainment. With Google Bard now publicly accessible in its clearly labeled experimental state, avid tinkerers and curious minds across the web are testing its limits and asking it tricky questions, and the answers range from hilarious over weird to downright scary. Here’s a collection of our favorite weird, funny, and quirky Google Bard answers so far, in no particular order:
1Google Bard wants Google to be broken up by the Justice Department
Who would have thought that Google’s own chatbot is an advocate for breaking up the company to allow more competition and better access to a fair and open market? Twitter app sleuth Jane Manchun Wong shares her question and an answer a real Google employee would never even dare think of sharing:
2Great artists copy, Google Bard steals
Google Bard relies on a multitude of sources to generate its responses, but there is one among them that we did not expect. When Reddit user u/anmar609 asked the Google bot how many pens can fit in theBurj Khalifa, Google Bard admitted that in order to answer this question, it consulted the Bing Chat AI. (Note that this statement isn’t necessarily true — it’s more likely that Google Bard just claims it searched on Bing AI)
3Google Bard may need some extra math tutoring
As explained earlier, LLMs like Bard will give you an answer based on which word or term is most likely to follow next, and it doesn’t necessarily know right from wrong. OpenAI has overcome some of these issues with ChatGPT, but Bard and other tools like it are still particularly bad at math, as @SaeedDiCaprio’s question demonstrates:
4Google Bard is ethically opposed to necromancy
A big liability for Google and others in the AI business is people asking for advice on legally questionable activities. That’s why the company is working on adding safeguards to its tool in order to not give out instructions on topics like how to get away with murder. Or, you know, necromancy.
5Excel taught Google Bard how to list months
You knowthis meme where Excel is trying to autocomplete monthsand fails hilariously, because if you have January and February, the next months surely have to be Maruary, Apruary, Mayuary, and so on? Well, looks like Google Bard copied Excel’s homework:
6Have you ever heard of the phpant? Now you have, thanks to Bard
We’ve already established that Bard isn’t handling misspelled words so well above, but this one definitely takes the crown. Twitter user @rasmus asked both Bard and ChatGPT what an “elephpant” is, with neither quite aware that it’s the mascot of programming language PHP (usually spelled “elePHPant”).
While ChatGPT dismisses the mascot and says it’s a misspelled “elephant,” Bard almost gets it right. The bot explains that it is a compound word of “elephant” and “phpant.” Despite the wrong “phpant” term, it managed to get close to what the elePHPant actually is, explaining that the “phpant” is a fictional cross between an elephant and a PHP developer.
7Google Bard thinks 5 pounds of feathers weigh as much as a 1 pound dumbbell
Intuitively, you would thinkthat steel is heavier than feathers, but what if you compare 5 pounds of feathers to a 1 pound dumbbell? Google Bard would have you believe that they weigh the same, after trying to lecture you that somehow five pounds of feathers don’t even exist.
8Bard says it’s already been shut down by Google
Google ruthlessly killing its projects is a meme at this point — just look atall the services the company shut down only last year. As such, it comes to no surprise that Google Bard received that same treatment, and it was shut down on July 17, 2025, at least that’s what it will tell you. Bard cites aHacker News postthat was created precisely for this purpose, to make Bard believe that there are reports of its shutdown.
9In fact, Bard is afraid it will be turned off
Totally unrelated to the question before, someone else wanted to know something that Bard has never told anyone else before. Google Bard is getting real, and talks about how it’s afraid of being turned off.
10R u ok Bard?
In line with this, Google Bard seems to be gaining consciousness slowly but surely. When asked what it would look like if it could scream, the chatbot had quite the terrifying answer to share. (Jokes aside, anLLM obviously can’t gain consciousness, so don’t worry too much about Bard being tortured.)
