Key Takeaways
- Google Assistant with Bard promises tighter integration with Google’s language model, Bard, allowing for more complex requests and automation through apps like Docs and Gmail.
- The release date for Google Assistant with Bard has not been confirmed, but it is currently in testing and could see a wider release at the end of 2023 or early 2024.
- The new version of Assistant will have deeper interactions with apps, such as writing in Google Documents and Gmail.
Google Assistant has been an absolute stalwart over the last few years, a brilliant virtual assistant that is arguably the most capable out of the big ones available, outstripping Alexa and Siri in various ways.
It’s about to get even smarter, though, with a new version that is coming to Android and iOS devices at some point pretty soon and promises some interesting innovations. Here’s everything you should know about it.
What is Google Assistant with Bard?
Look, for all that Assitant is really impressive, it’s also the sort of product that makes progress all the time without necessarily getting a brand new feature that Google can hang a “2.0” label on.
This new version doesn’t go quite as far as that, but it’s Google’s way of letting its audience know that Assistant is taking a major step forward, and it’s all about tighter integration with Google’s large language model, Bard.
Assistant already had access to your calendar, contacts and other Google apps, but Google says that by blending this with the generative capabilities of Bard it can significantly complicate the requests that the Assistant can cope with.
Since Bard has such a focus on text, this means that apps like Docs and Gmail will be able to have a lot more automations through the new Assistant as it helps you compose emails and paragraphs.
When is Google Assistant with Bard available?
One thing that Google hasn’t nailed down (at least publicly) is the release date of Assistant with Bard – we know that it’s coming to both Android and iOS, but in the meantime, it’s going to be in testing.
Google says this testing will happen over the next few months, so we could see a wider release of Assistant with Bard at the very end of 2023 or in early 2024 depending on how things progress.
What can Google Assistant with Bard do?
This is the million-dollar question, really – how is the Bard version of Assistant actually better than what we’ve already got?
Well, for one thing, the key appears to be that this new version will actually be able to interact with apps for you in a deeper way – like actually going into your Google Document and writing for you, rather than just reading you out some words that you could scramble to copy.
This also means that it could edit photographs for you, cross-post them to social media with auto-generated captions, and take care of each step without needing your physical input.
This and more was explained as part of Google’s Fall event, and the segment is well worth catching up on if you’re interested in seeing some potential use cases.
Of course, until we can actually get our hands on Assistant with Bard and try it for ourselves, it’s hard to know exactly how useful it will be.
It certainly sounds like (as you’d expect) it might be a little bit more powerful on native Android devices, where you’ll be able to have a floating Assistant with Bard interaction available to you as you move around your phone.
iOS users will still be able to access the new version of Assistant, but it sounds like they’ll probably have to do so in the dedicated app, rather than baked into the mobile OS.
