VOA科学技术2023--Google Links Bard AI Tool to Its Other Products

Google Links Bard¹ AI Tool to Its Other Products

Google has linked its Bard artificial intelligence (AI) tool to its Gmail service and other company offerings. The American-based search engine company says the change will permit its users to easily use the AI technology across different product areas.

Bard is a chatbot, a computer-driven system designed to interact smoothly² with humans and perform high-level writing. Such tools are also known as "generative AI" or "large language models."

The first widely released chatbot was ChatGPT. It was launched by technology company OpenAI late last year. Google announced the launch of its Bard tool last February. And shortly thereafter, Microsoft announced it was redesigning its Bing search engine to include OpenAI's chatbot technology. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI.

In an announcement Tuesday, Google said it had created a system that makes it possible for users to extend the AI tool to other company services, or apps. This brings Bard technology to Google products including Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Maps, etc.

The system to expand the AI tool to other Google apps is called Bard Extensions. Users can decide which apps they want to add Bard to. This can be done by going to Google's Chrome browser³ and following the process to activate⁴ new extensions. For the moment, Bard Extensions is only available in English.

In a statement explaining the change, Google gave several descriptions of how users could use Bard with other apps. For example, a user of Gmail could ask Bard to create a summary of all emails dealing⁵ with a particular subject.

Another example is a possible solution to someone planning a major family trip. In such a case, a series of Google apps can be used together with Bard.

The user can ask Bard to search through Gmail messages to get available trip dates from the emails of multiple family members. At the same time, a user can ask Bard to use Google Flights to look up flight dates that would work for the trip. Bard can also be used to book available hotel rooms and connect with Google Maps to provide everyone with directions to the airport. And users could also use Bard to find YouTube videos of things to do during the trip.

Another example Google gives is how Bard can link up with other apps to assist someone with a job search. In this case, Google suggests asking Bard to "find my resume titled June 2023 from my Drive and summarize it to a short paragraph personal statement."

Another new add-on for Bard permits users to invite others into their Bard conversations.

In its announcement, Google also said it had created a way for users to verify whether information produced by the Bard tool is correct or not. This move is seen as an effort by Google to help users get over concerns about its AI system returning false, outdated⁶ or damaging results.

Google says the use of Bard's "Google it" button can test the correctness of its results. When people use this button, Bard's results are compared with the results of a Google search on the same subject. Then, Bard points out the differences in its own results compared to information returned from Google search.

Google senior product director Jack⁷ Krawczyk told Reuters news agency the company thought it was important to add this ability to help users find the most truthful⁸ results.

"We are presenting (Bard) in a way that it admits when it's not confident," Krawczyk said. He added that the effort is part of a goal by Google to build user trust in generative AI tools, while holding Bard accountable for its performance.

In announcing Bard Extensions, Google promised to protect users' privacy by blocking its employees from seeing any personal information Bard gets from apps such as Gmail or Drive. It said it had also taken steps to prevent data linked to Bard from being used to target users with ads or to train the AI tool.

Krawczyk noted⁹ that currently, Bard users can only pull in information from other Google apps. However, he said Google is already working with other companies to be able to connect their apps to Bard in the future.

Words in This Story

summary – n. a short description that provides the main facts or ideas about something

resume – n. a document describing a person's qualifications and past employment history that is used to help someone find a job

conversation – n. the act of speaking or communicating with another person

verify – v. to confirm or prove that something is true

button – n. a switch that is pressed to control a piece of equipment

1 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

4 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。