Google is adding a number of new features to its Bard AI chatbot, including the ability for Bard to speak his answers to you and respond to prompts that also contain images. The chatbot is now also available in a large part of the world, including the EU.
In a blog post, Google positions Bard’s spoken responses as a useful way to “correct the pronunciation of a word or listen to a poem or script.” You can hear spoken answers by entering a prompt and selecting the sound icon. According to Google, voice responses are available in more than 40 languages and are now live.
The feature that lets you add images to prompts is something Google first showed off at its I/O conference in May. In one example, Google suggested that you could use this to ask for help writing a funny caption for a photo of two dogs. Google says the feature is now available in English and will be expanded to new languages ”soon”.
Google is also introducing a few other new features, including the ability to pin and rename conversations, share comments with your friends, and change the tone and style of the responses you get back from Bard.
Google first opened access to Bard back in March, but at the time it was only available in the US and UK. The company has since rolled out the chatbot in many more countries, and that now includes “all countries in the EEA [European Economic Area] and Brazil,” said Google spokesperson Jennifer Rodstrom The edge. This expansion in Europe is a remarkable milestone; the company’s planned Bard launch in the EU was delayed due to privacy concerns.
