It’s the 19th of September, 2023. Google has just rolled out a significant update to Bard, its AI-powered conversational agent. The update aims to make Bard more intuitive, imaginative, and responsive, with a focus on enhancing collaboration and content creation. This article delves into the key features of this update and explores its implications for content creators.
The update introduces a range of new features and extensions aimed at making the platform more versatile and integrated with other Google services. Here’s a breakdown of the key points:
New Features Summary:
- Real-Time Information: Bard can now pull real-time information from Google Maps, Flights, Hotels, and YouTube. This means you can plan trips, find locations, and even watch videos without leaving the Bard interface.
- Data Sharing: Bard may share parts of your conversations and other relevant information like your location with other services for their improvement. However, you have the option to turn off extensions anytime.
- Gmail Integration: Bard can find and bring in information from your emails, such as the time of an event or notes from friends.
- Document Summaries: Bard can summarize the key points from documents and PDFs stored in Google Docs and Google Drive.
- Privacy: Bard only accesses your personal content from Google Workspace with your permission and does not use this data to show you ads or improve Bard itself.
- Google Search: A special Google button allows you to evaluate Bard’s statements using Google Search.
- Learning Journey: Clickable highlighted statements in Bard’s responses can lead you to more information found by Google Search.
Extensions at Launch:
- Google Flights (@flights): Provides real-time flight information for personalized travel planning.
- Google Hotels (@hotels): Allows you to search for hotels based on your preferences.
- Google Maps (@maps): Offers location-based information to help you with your plans.
- Google Workspace (@gmail, @drive, @docs): Helps you find and summarize content from your own Google Workspace.
- YouTube (@youtube): Enables you to discover and learn from YouTube videos within your Bard conversations.
Bard’s Enhanced Language Support and Coding Assistance
What’s New
Bard now supports 40+ languages and offers in-depth coding assistance. This makes it a versatile tool for global collaboration and technical tasks.
Why It Matters
The language support opens doors for content creators across the globe, breaking down language barriers. Coding assistance can be a game-changer for developers and technical writers.
Real-Time Information from Google Apps with Google Bard
What’s New
Bard can now pull real-time information from Google Maps, YouTube, Hotels, and Flights. These extensions are enabled by default but can be disabled.
Why It Matters
For content creators, this means easy access to a wealth of information without leaving the Bard interface. Whether it’s location-based data for travel blogs or video content for multimedia projects, Bard has it covered.
Collaboration with Bard in Gmail, Docs, and Drive
What’s New
Bard can interact with your personal content in Gmail, Docs, and Drive, allowing you to find, summarize, and answer questions.
Why It Matters
This feature turns Bard into a powerful tool for managing and creating content. It can help you quickly summarize long documents or find specific information in your emails, making your workflow more efficient.
“Google It” v2: Fact-Checking Bard with Google Search
What’s New
A new [G] button allows users to double-check Bard’s AI-generated responses using Google Search.
Why It Matters
In an era where misinformation can spread easily, the ability to fact-check AI-generated content is crucial. This feature adds an extra layer of credibility to the content created with Bard.
Shared Conversations for Collaborative Creativity
What’s New
Users can now continue conversations shared through Bard’s public link sharing feature.
Why It Matters
Collaboration is often the key to creativity. This feature allows you to build upon ideas and conversations initiated by others, fostering a collaborative environment for content creation.
Customizable Responses and Image Support
What’s New
Bard now allows you to modify its responses to suit your needs. You can also upload images with Google Lens and receive image-based responses.
Why It Matters
The ability to tailor responses gives you more control over your creative process. Image support adds a visual dimension to your content, making it more engaging.
Privacy Concerns:
While Bard offers a lot of functionalities, it’s important to note the data sharing aspect. If you’re concerned about privacy, you may want to visit the Bard Privacy Help Hub and the Extensions page to understand how your data is being used and how to control it.
Data Collection and Usage
Google collects various types of data when you use Bard, including your conversations, product usage information, location data, and feedback. This data is used to improve and develop Google’s products, services, and machine learning technologies. Google Cloud, an enterprise product, is also included in the scope of this data usage.
Data Retention
By default, your Bard activity is stored in your Google Account for up to 18 months. However, you can change this duration to either 3 or 36 months via your Google Account settings. Information about your location, such as your device’s general area, IP address, or home and work addresses, is also stored along with your Bard activity.
Human Reviewers
To improve the quality of their machine learning models, Google employs human reviewers who read, annotate, and process your Bard conversations. Google takes steps to protect your privacy during this process, including disconnecting your conversations from your Google Account before they are reviewed. Users are advised not to include confidential information in their Bard conversations.
User Control and Settings
You can pause the saving of your Bard activity if you wish to use the service without storing your conversations. Conversations that have been reviewed by human reviewers are stored separately and are not deleted when you delete your Bard activity; they are retained for up to three years.
Additional Points
- Even when Bard Activity is turned off, conversations are saved for up to 72 hours to allow Google to provide the service and process any feedback.
- If you disable Bard activity, other Google settings like Web & App Activity or Location History may continue to save data.
- You can request the removal of content under Google’s policies or applicable laws and can also export your information.
Things to Consider
- Bard uses your location and past conversations to provide the most accurate responses.
- Bard is an experimental technology and may sometimes provide inaccurate or inappropriate information.
- The service is not a substitute for professional advice in medical, legal, or financial matters.
Terms of Service
Users must agree to Google’s Terms of Service and the Generative AI Additional Terms of Service to use Bard. EEA-based consumers have the right to withdraw from these terms within 14 days of accepting them.
By using Bard, you are agreeing to these terms and should be aware of the implications for your data and privacy. For more information, you can visit the Bard Product FAQ and Bard Privacy Help Hub.
Google Bard September Update Final Words
The latest update to Google Bard is a significant leap forward in making AI a more robust tool for content creation and collaboration. From language support to real-time information access and enhanced privacy features, Bard is shaping up to be an indispensable asset for content creators. However, as with any tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly, keeping in mind the privacy implications.