Google is adding some new features to its Bard AI chatbot, including the ability for Bard to speak his answers to you and to respond to prompts that also include images. The chatbot is now also available in large parts of the world, including the EU.
In a blog post, Google positions Bards spoken responses as a helpful way to “correct the pronunciation of a word or listen to a poem or script.” You can hear spoken responses by typing a prompt and selecting the sound icon. Spoken responses will be available in more than 40 languages, according to Google, and are available now.
The feature, which lets you add images to prompts, was first unveiled by Google at its I/O conference in May. In one example, Google suggested that you could use this to ask for help writing a fun caption for a picture of two dogs. According to Google, the feature is now available in English and will be expanded to new languages ”soon”.
Google is also rolling out a few other new features, including the ability to pin and rename conversations, share replies with your friends, and change the tone and style of replies you receive from Bard.
Google first opened up access to Bard in March, but at the time it was only available in the US and UK. Since then, the company has launched the chatbot in many more countries, and that now includes “all countries in the EEA”. [European Economic Area] and Brazil,” Google spokeswoman Jennifer Rodstrom told The Verge. This expansion in Europe is a remarkable milestone; The planned launch of Bard in the EU has been delayed due to privacy concerns.