Bard, Google’s AI collaboration tool, is getting a major update today, adding advanced capabilities and new features to a larger audience, including the ability to create images and more languages.
Perhaps the most exciting of the Bard improvements that were announced today via a blog post, is the brand new skill that puts it in a closer footing to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus: the ability to create images based on the user’s prompts. While ChatGPT requires a paid subscription in order to gain access to tools like DALL-E, Bard will now allow you to do the same for free. This feature is initially available in English in most countries and is powered by Google’s updated Imagen 2 model.
The feature is very easy to use: just enter a few words to describe what you want Bard to bring to life, and watch it do its magic. If the initial results received don’t quite match what you had in mind, you can click “Generate more” to get more alternatives and download the ones you like.
Image Source – Google
This is very impressive, especially considering that it comes free of cost. However, it is important to note that is not quiet perfect…yet. In my testing I attempted to have Bard generate an image for me based on the physical description of a person. Bard promptly returned a response stating that it was not yet capable of doing that.
Error message returned by Bard when asked to create an image based on human physical characteristics
Additionally, Google states that in order to stay consistent with the company’s AI principles when it pertains to image generation, any images generated by Bard will use SynthID to embed a digital watermark into the results. This watermark is not detectable to the human eye, but can be scanned for identification.
But that’s not all the smarts that Bard is gaining today: Previously only available in English, the enhanced Gemini Pro in Bard, is now available in over 40 languages and 230 countries and territories. This expansion makes Bard a more inclusive and accessible platform to people globally.
Keeping with the spirit of this new multi-lingual Bard, now even its double-check feature will be available in more than 40 languages. This can be accessed by clicking on the “G” icon that appears below the response to your prompt, and checks the information against what is found on the web.
These upgrades are definite improvements to Bard’s accessibility and capabilities. The free addition of an image generation tool, along with its multi-language support, makes it a more helpful and adaptable tool for creative projects, daily activities, and information verification in a global scale.
