13-7-2023 (BRUSSELS) Alphabet announced the expansion of its artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, in Europe and Brazil on Thursday, marking its largest expansion since its initial launch in February. The move puts Bard in direct competition with Microsoft-backed rival ChatGPT.
Bard and ChatGPT are conversational AI programs that use generative artificial intelligence to engage in conversations and respond to various prompts. The introduction of these products has generated global excitement, albeit with a cautious approach.
Companies have been eager to embrace AI, investing billions of dollars in the hope of reaping substantial advertising and cloud revenue. Just this week, billionaire Elon Musk unveiled his long-awaited AI startup xAI, which includes former engineers from Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
Google has now introduced new features to Bard, making them available worldwide.
“Starting today, you can interact with Bard in over 40 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi, and Spanish,” said Jack Krawczyk, Google’s senior product director, in a blog post.
He added, “Sometimes, hearing something out loud can help you approach your idea in a different way… This is especially helpful if you want to hear the correct pronunciation of a word or listen to a poem or script.”
Krawczyk also mentioned that users can customize Bard’s responses by adjusting the tone and style to be simple, long, short, professional, or casual. Additionally, users can pin or rename conversations, export code to various platforms, and incorporate images in prompts.
The launch of Bard in the European Union faced delays due to local privacy regulations. Krawczyk assured regulators that Google had addressed concerns related to transparency, choice, and control during meetings with watchdogs.
During a briefing with journalists, Amar Subramanya, engineering vice president of Bard, stated that users have the option to opt out of data collection.
Google is currently facing a new class action lawsuit in the United States regarding alleged misuse of personal information to train its AI system. When asked about plans for a Bard app, Subramanya declined to comment, emphasizing that Bard is an experimental project and that Google aims to be both bold and responsible.
However, recent web user data suggests that the novelty appeal of AI chatbots may be fading, as monthly traffic to ChatGPT’s website and unique visitors experienced their first decline in June.
