Unlock the Power of Google Bard: Chatbot Now Integrates with Your Google Apps for Enhanced Answers and Functionality

Google Unveils Enhanced Bard: The AI Chatbot's New Features and Improvements

Today, Google is launching an upgraded version of Bard, its generative AI chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT. The latest enhancements allow users to verify Bard's answers, collaborate with others, and conveniently integrate with Google’s suite of applications—including Gmail, Docs, Drive, Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights and Hotels. These features are made possible through new Bard Extensions, currently available in English only.

Initially previewed at Google I/O, the rollout of these extensions was delayed to ensure a safe and secure user experience. “Our approach is grounded in three key principles for building trust with Bard users: transparency, choice, and control,” explains Jack Krawczyk, Bard's product lead. Users are only able to link Bard with Gmail, Drive, and Docs after explicitly opting in, and they can withdraw this permission whenever they choose.

Moreover, Google is committed to ensuring users understand how their data is managed. Information sourced from Gmail or Google Drive for Bard's responses is not utilized for reinforcement learning, a critical factor in maintaining user trust. “Opting in does not mean Bard can access your entire Gmail inbox,” Krawczyk clarifies. Instead, Bard can fetch requested information on a specific prompt without storing any personal information, nor will any human reviewers access the emails Bard consults.

Krawczyk likens this to Google’s spam filtering policy: “Your personal data remains unread because trust is fundamental to our platform.” While some features may sacrifice precision as they evolve, Krawczyk asserts that cultivating user trust is paramount as they develop this technology responsibly.

Once connected, users can instruct Bard to summarize missed emails. However, limitations exist; for example, it may struggle to find details about wine club memberships unless explicitly mentioned in the email.

The newly introduced extensions are designed to work collaboratively. For example, if you're planning a trip with friends, Bard can retrieve suitable dates from your email thread and simultaneously check for real-time flight and hotel options, access Maps for directions, and find YouTube videos related to your destination—all in one conversation.

For extensions that do not access personal data like YouTube, Flights, Hotels, and Maps, users are automatically opted in, although opting out is an option. Google aims to extend this Extensions model to third-party services after thoroughly testing it with their own applications.

Another significant enhancement is the updated “Google it” feature that allows users to verify Bard's responses. By clicking the “G” icon, each sentence Bard generates is cross-referenced with Google Search to confirm its accuracy. Users can click on highlighted phrases for additional information, enhancing the overall reliability of Bard's output.

However, if Bard is uncertain, the problematic sentence will be highlighted in orange, indicating potential inaccuracies. This transparency will help users recognize when the AI is “hallucinating” or generating incorrect information—a common issue with current AI systems that often appear confident even when the data is lacking.

“We’re excited to take bold steps toward building trust with language models,” Krawczyk insists. “Transparency is key when we lack confidence or make mistakes.” This feature also enables Bard to learn from user corrections, ultimately improving its responses.

Moreover, a new collaboration feature allows users to engage with shared Bard chats via public links, enabling them to explore the topic further and ask additional questions or spark new ideas.

Alongside these advancements, Google is expanding Bard's existing English features, including the capability to upload images through Google Lens and provide search images in responses, to over 40 additional languages.

As Bard continues to evolve, Google asserts that the AI is also improving its proficiency in math and programming challenges.