Google Bard AI Chatbot Expansion
Google is rolling out a major expansion of its Bard, which is a rival to ChatGPT. The chatbot can now integrate with Google apps. It means that it can pull information from your Google Docs, YouTube, etc. How?
Enter Bard Extensions
The company just launched Bard Extensions. This is a completely new way to collaborate with the chatbot. With this tool, Bard can show you relevant information from Google tools.
According to a Google blog post:
“For example, if you’re planning a trip to the Grand Canyon (a project that takes up many tabs), you can now ask Bard to grab the dates that work for everyone from Gmail, look up real-time flight and hotel information, see Google Maps directions to the airport, and even watch YouTube videos of things to do there — all within one conversation.”
Google said that you can choose how you want to use this tool.
Privacy Concerns
If you use it, you are giving the chatbot access to your personal documents and email. Thus, it raises concerns about privacy and data usage.
However, the company stated that it will not use this information to train its public model. Human reviewers cannot see it.
It is not enabled by default. Google will ask you to opt in. But you have a choice not to turn on the integrations.
The extensions are not limited to Docs, Drive, and Gmail. The chatbot will also connect with Google Flights and Maps. In that case, it is easy to ask Bard for your real-time flight information. Plus, you can use it to find nearby attractions. By default, these extensions are enabled.
New Way to Check Bard’s Answers
In addition to extensions, Google also introduced a new way to check Bard’s answers. Thanks to the launch of the Google It button. Previously, this button lets you search for topics associated with Bard’s answers. Now, it will show you whether or not the answers contain details that the Search contradicts or affirms.
Upon pressing the button, Google will highlight the information. If the result is verified by Search, it is highlighted in green. The unvalidated answer will be in orange.
Google Bard
It was introduced in March 2023. Experts believed that Google only released it because it felt pressure from ChatGPT’s success. During a live demo, it provided a wrong answer to a query.
Then again, it is an AI chatbot. It can learn and be trained to provide you with correct answers.
Its training knowledge is based on text data from the Internet. But that information is limited. If the information has changed, Bard may not have access to the most recent updates.
If a question is ambiguous or can be interpreted in multiple ways, Bard might provide an answer that makes sense in one context but not in another.
It also does not have real-time awareness or understanding of current world events. Thus, it may not be aware of recent news or developments.
However, Google has been adding more features to the chatbot. Recently, it added support for Lens in Bard so you can use it to brainstorm caption ideas for a photo.
