Google Assistant and Bard merged
While the Assistant in its current form was good at performing quick tasks like setting timers, giving weather updates, and making quick searches, it faltered like Siri and other assistants on slightly more complex tasks. Similar to Amazon’s recently announced generative AI Alexa, Assistant with Bard aims to provide “more personalized assistance” than the relatively simple smartphone assistants we’ve become accustomed to over the last decade (including Alexa and Siri).
Google says that with Bard, Assistant can help with tasks like travel planning, searching for emails, creating shopping lists, and sending messages. It can also be interacted with through text, voice or images, with more conversational and more contextual information compared to the standard Google Assistant. Just like Bard on the web, Assistant with Bard will integrate with some of the company’s existing apps, such as Gmail and Docs, to help you find and summarize information.
Google says the feature is in early development stages and will be available to early testers soon. Google notes that you “can also choose your personal privacy settings.” Assistant with Bard and Assistant with Bard will not be available immediately. The new Assistant will arrive first on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro devices in the coming months, and will then be available on Android and iOS.