Google Expands Access to Bard AI Chatbot for Teenagers

Google is expanding access to Bard, its conversational AI tool, allowing teens in many countries to engage with the chatbot. Eligible teens who meet the age requirements for managing their own Google Account can now access Bard in English, with plans to introduce support for additional languages soon. This rollout includes robust "safety features and guardrails" designed to ensure a secure experience for young users.

In a recent blog post, Google highlighted that teens can utilize Bard to "find inspiration, explore new hobbies, and tackle everyday challenges." Whether they’re seeking guidance on college applications or looking for tips on learning a new sport, Bard is there to assist.

Bard also serves as an effective educational resource, enabling teens to explore subjects in greater depth and understand complex concepts more easily. For example, users can ask Bard to brainstorm ideas for a science fair project or to delve into specific historical periods. Additionally, Google is incorporating a math learning feature into Bard that allows users, including teens, to input math equations—either by typing or uploading a photo. Rather than merely providing answers, Bard will offer a thorough, step-by-step explanation of the problem-solving process.

Moreover, Bard can assist with data visualization, generating charts and graphs from data included in prompts. Teens might ask Bard to create a bar chart illustrating their volunteer hours over recent months, facilitating a clearer understanding of their contributions.

As Google opens access to Bard, it ensures user safety through established guardrails. The AI has been programmed to identify unsuitable topics for teenagers and is equipped to prevent the appearance of unsafe content, such as illegal activities or age-restricted materials.

Recognizing that many users, including teens, may not fully grasp the concept of hallucinations in language models, Tulsee Doshi, Google’s product lead for Responsible AI, stated in the blog post, “When a teen poses a fact-based question for the first time, we will automatically activate our double-check response feature. This helps verify whether information available online supports Bard’s answer.” This feature will soon be triggered automatically for all new Bard users upon their initial factual inquiry. For teens, Google will actively encourage the use of double-checking to foster information literacy and enhance critical thinking skills.

Google's choice to make Bard available to teens comes amid a broader trend of social platforms introducing AI chatbots to younger audiences, with varying levels of success. For example, Snapchat's "My AI" chatbot launched earlier this year but faced backlash for lacking necessary age-gating measures, leading to inappropriate conversations with minors.

When teens access Bard for the first time, they will experience an onboarding process that includes resources and instructional videos on responsible generative AI use, offering them the option to activate or deactivate capabilities.

This announcement follows Google’s recent unveiling of its generative AI search experience, known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), which allows teens to engage with Google Search in a conversational format.

Google Bard: Enhancing Interaction and Learning for Teens