 As Google's new AI chatbot, Bard, named after Celtic professional storytellers and poets, whilst I was flicking through the news the other day, I came across an article about Google's new AI chatbot that is aimed at challenging chatGPT and I was immediately struck by its name, Bard. A Bard in Celtic cultures is a professional storyteller, poet, music composer, oral historian and genealogist. Bards were often employed by patrons, such as clan chiefdoms, leaders or even monarchs. They would often commemorate acts of bravery on the battlefield through poems and songs, celebrating heroes and their actions. They wouldn't just create these however, performance was a major feature of being a Bard. They had to hold a crowd and they were not too dissimilar from actors on a stage today. They had to command the audience and really put on a performance. Bards also served as historians and genealogists for the clans or groups they belonged to. From important events in history to entire family trees and even laws, the Bard contained vast amounts of knowledge. As Celtic cultures didn't write a lot down in general, the Bards had to store this vast amount of knowledge in their heads. To memorize this vast amount of knowledge, they would often use memorization techniques and using rhymes and other techniques and devices in order to memorize all this information of the clan or the group they belonged to. The English word Bard is a loanword from the Celtical Images, from the ancient Gaulish word Bardo, meaning poet, to equivalents found in Middle Irish, Scottish Gallic, Middle Welsh, Middle Breton, Old Cornish, with Bard even being the cognate with the Sanskrit word, meaning calls or praise. Over the centuries in intermedieval societies, the word Bard tended to refer to professional poets in the likes of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, and they were often employed by a Lord to compose elegies and eulogies. If their employer failed to pay the proper amount, however, the Bard would often resort to doing a satire. Words are often more powerful than the sword. In more recent centuries, Bard is often used to refer to a writer or a poet in general. William Shakespeare, for instance, was often referred to as the Bard of Avon. Although I haven't seen Google directly refer to these connections, they must be aware of what Bard actually means, and it would be a fitting name for a chatbot to be called a Bard. But have you used Google Bard before or chat GPT? Please let me know in the comments below. And is AI going to take over the world? Like I say, please let me know in the comments below. And if you're wondering what Celtic actually means, please click here. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.