September 20, 2023
Google’s Bard chatbot has received a major update that gives users the ability to double-check its answers and connect it to their Google apps and services.
The update, which is the first since July, comes at a time when Google is racing to integrate AI into its main products in an effort to extend its dominance. One of the key new features in the Bard update is the ability to check its answers against the web.
When a user clicks on the “Google it” button next to a Bard answer, the chatbot will verify its response line by line and provide links to supporting sources. This feature is especially useful for complex questions or for answers that may be subjective or controversial.
Another new feature is the ability to connect Bard to Google apps and services. This means that users can use Bard to perform tasks such as summarizing unread emails, constructing draft trip itineraries, and generating creative content. For example, a user could ask Bard to summarize the key points of all their unread emails in Gmail or to create a draft itinerary for a trip to Europe, using information from their Gmail, Docs, and Google Flights accounts.
Google has also expanded the availability of existing Bard features, such as image uploading and the inclusion of search images in responses, to more than 40 supported languages.
The sources for this piece include an article in Axios.
