Google releases Bard to the world – but leaves the EU behind
At the I/O 2023 event yesterday, Google announced that it had officially removed the waiting list for its AI-powered chatbot Bard and made the service available in 180 countries and territories.
Unfortunately for most Europeans eager to test the tech giant’s contribution to the generative AI race, European Union countries are not on the list.
The company has not commented on why the EU has been left out. However, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume it has something to do with how members of the block has responded until the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
In all likelihood, Google is also awaiting the finalization of the EU’s long-awaited AI law before unleashing Bard across the continent. The leading committees of the European Parliament gave their approval into law earlier today, with a tentative plenary approval date scheduled for June 14.
While Google doesn’t offer specific plans for more geographic access, Google does say it will “gradually expand to more countries and territories in a manner consistent with local regulations and our AI principles.”
Trained on Google’s new model
Less than 5 weeks until TNW Conference
Don’t miss your chance to be part of Europe’s leading technical event
In addition to releasing Bard to much of the world (and keen VPN users), Google also introduced a range of new features to the chatbot. First of all, it’s now powered by Google’s latest major language model: PaLM2, an improved version of PaLM, released in April. Meanwhile, Bard continued to be introduced as a “conversational AI experiment.”
According to Sissie Hsiao, Google VP and General Manager for Google Assistant and Bard, the chatbot is now trained in 20 programming languages. This means that users can ask it to produce, debug and improve code in C++, Python and JavaScript, for example.
In addition, users can now switch to the seemingly much-requested dark mode. But what’s more, they can also create images through Bard, using Adobe’s AI art generator Firefly through an extension feature that allows it to integrate with third-party apps and platforms.
So far, Bard is available in English, Japanese, and Korean, but Google says it’s on track to support 40 languages.
Will it be snuff?
In a move widely regarded as premature, Bard was released to select users in the US and UK two months ago. The consensus was that in order to keep up with the competition, Google accelerated the introduction of the chatbot before it was ready.
As a result, the company was ridiculed not only by tech-savvy commentators, but also by its own employees. If reports Bloomberg, phrases such as “pathological liar” and “mobbed” were thrown on internal message boards. But what is one of the big five do when it’s bad core business is under pressure?
To say that Google is currently enamored with artificial intelligence would be an understatement. For I/O 2023, it came armed with a bunch of new AI announcements, beyond Bard. In fact, Sundar Pichai opened the event by stating once again that Google has “reimagined” all of its core products.
Pretty sure Google is focusing on AI at this year’s I/O. #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/RxlFQw2l8b
— The Edge (@verge) May 10, 2023
And speaking of core business, Google Search is getting something the company calls “AI-powered snapshots.” When users sign up for the brand new Search Generative Experience, the search engine produces AI-powered answers at the top of the results.
Other products getting an AI makeover include Gmail and Docs, where you can ask AI to “help write” things, such as potentially awkward emails or job applications. Spreadsheets now has a feature called ‘help me create’ to help you set up tables of everything you need when it comes to running a business for example (dog walking was the example Google offered during the presentation, probably because , well, dogs).
Maps is getting something called Immersive View, which lets you visually walk, bike, or drive a specific route, complete with predicted weather conditions, before you actually head out the door. By the end of the year, it will be rolled out in 15 cities, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Florence, London, Paris and Venice.
Whether much of Europe will be able to test the mettle of the ‘new and improved’ Bard by then is another matter.
Contents
