Google makes Bard-AI chatbot available, first only in US and UK

Google has made the Bard-AI chatbot available to mainstream users for the first time. For now, it only concerns the United States and the United Kingdom, and there is a waiting list. Eventually, the service should also become available in other countries.

The company calls Bard another “early experiment,” saying this step should provide additional feedback that Google can use to improve Bard. The generative AI chatbot should be able to improve users’ productivity and provide them with extra creativity. Google says Bard can explain quantum physics “in simple terms,” ​​or help users read more books or create a blog post, among other things.

Google Bard still makes mistakes sometimes.

In announcing that Bard is being made available to the first users, the company also notes that Bard can convey misinformation with conviction. For example, a user asked Bard for plant tips, after which the company gave the zz plant the wrong scientific name. When starting a conversation, it is therefore indicated that the chatbot may contain errors ‘and offensive’ information.

For example, when users ask Bard to compose a text, Bard can provide multiple draft ideas for the user to choose from. This way the user has more input in what kind of text Bard writes. Bard is also linked to Google Search, so that Bard’s responses can be checked faster. Google says it wants to integrate large language models such as Bard’s LaMDA model into Search, which it will provide more information about later.

Google also wants to expand Bard later with other functions, such as coding and multimodal functions. Multimodal generative AI functions are functions where text input is converted to, for example, an image, or vice versa. It is not clear when Bard should become available in the Benelux. Google announced Bard in early February as a competitor to ChatGPT.