Google Bard AI Chatbot: Waitlist Dropped, New Features Announced

Announced in February earlier this year, Bard was introduced to the world as Google’s alternative AI solution to ChatGPT. However, due to its limited availability and underwhelming initial performance, it failed to measure up to the already widely accessible ChatGPT at that time.

Nevertheless, this situation is expected to change as Google recently announced significant upgrades to Bard and their plans to make it available to a larger audience during last week’s keynote session. Along with these upgrades, Google also revealed their intentions to integrate Bard into their search engine, thereby transforming the usage of their products and, notably, impacting the evolving landscape of SEO in today’s era.

Based on the current trajectory, it appears that Google is no longer content with playing catch-up to ChatGPT. Instead, they are determined to surpass the competition by introducing a range of new features and innovations. These include new integrations, export capabilities, visual responses, and support for multiple languages. Below are further details regarding the upgrades that have been announced:

Making Bard available to more people

Google has declared the removal of the waitlist, which will make Bard accessible to over 180 nations, including Singapore. Additionally, Google plans to expand Bard’s language support beyond Korean, Japanese, and English to include 40 other languages.

Making Bard more visually interactive

Bard’s prompts and responses are set to become more visual. When making inquiries such as “What are some must-see spots in Singapore?” users will receive visual responses in addition to the usual text-based ones, providing a clearer understanding of the locations to visit. Moreover, with the combined capabilities of Google Lens and Bard, users can now make search prompts using images.

New export, citing, and coding features

Google’s focus is to design Bard with people in mind, and as a result, several upgrades are expected to roll out over the next few weeks. These upgrades include the addition of an “export” button, a dark theme, and more accurate source citations. Furthermore, Bard’s functionality will be integrated into email and document drafts, simplifying the process of exporting well-crafted responses to Google Docs and Gmail.

In addition, Bard will have the capability to support over 20 programming languages, including JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Python, and C++. This expanded language support will assist coding professionals with tasks such as debugging, explanation, and code generation.

With these upgrades, Bard appears to be on a trajectory to surpass ChatGPT. Here are some other capabilities that Bard possesses, setting it apart from ChatGPT:

1. Bard’s access to the web

By default, ChatGPT lacks web access, which means its generated responses may be outdated, inconsistent, or unreliable. In contrast, Bard is equipped with Google access, enabling it to provide informative and comprehensive responses to related queries. This integration enhances Bard’s accuracy and reliability. However, it is important to note that Bard is currently in beta mode, which means there may be some errors in its responses.

2. Bard’s availability on smartphone devices

One notable drawback of ChatGPT is its lack of a dedicated mobile version. While you can access the AI bot through web browsers on your smartphone, there is no dedicated app available. On the other hand, Google’s intention to integrate Bard into their services and apps makes it much more accessible for smartphone users. This development ensures that Bard will be readily available and optimised for mobile usage.

3. Voice prompts

ChatGPT still relies solely on text prompts, which stands in stark contrast to Bard’s remarkable capability to generate responses through voice and image prompts. The inclusion of voice prompts is undoubtedly a significant advantage, particularly when multitasking. In fact, voice search plays a pivotal role in local SEO strategies, making it an essential tool in today’s digital landscape.

Conclusion

As we enter the era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses and individuals to adopt generative AI tools in their workflow. Many digital marketing agencies have already begun using AI tools to boost their SEO services, and this trend is expected to continue.

In this landscape, Bard is set to outperform ChatGPT, offering users a more extensive and interactive AI experience. By leveraging Bard’s capabilities, businesses and individuals can unlock new opportunities and stay ahead in this AI-driven era.