Conversing with AI chatbots: examining what OpenAI ChatGPT-4, Microsoft Bing Chatbot, and google bard know, think they know, do not know, and would like to know about engineering

Over the past few weeks, chatbots have become increasingly popular, and these are likely to revolutionize our lives. While the most common three chatbots, namely, OpenAI ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing Chatbot, and Google Bard, remain in their early release days, these chatbots present exciting opportunities to various users, including engineers. This short paper hopes to shed light on the current state of these three AI chatbots’ understanding of engineering history, principles, concepts, and societal challenges and compare their responses to those noted by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Society of Professional Engineers. By exploring the capabilities and limitations of these chatbots, this piece hopes to foster discussions on the role of chatbots in engineering and their potential impact on our future. Then, this paper presents a case for the future integration of chatbots as co-creators of knowledge.