Google announces an integration of Bard into Assistant. This gives the virtual assistant in your smartphone more generative AI functions that go beyond displaying the weather forecast.

Last night’s Made by Google event was all about the new Pixel 8 smartphones, but of course Google also had AI news to announce. After seven years, Google Assistant may be getting its biggest update ever. In line with the rumors, Google announced Assistant to Bard And you have to imagine exactly what the name says: Bard is integrated into your smartphone’s assistant.

The update is necessary to keep Google Assistant relevant in this day and age. Assistant may be essentially artificial intelligence, but the possibilities you can use with it are very limited compared to ChatGPT and Bard. You can ask Google Assistant to show you today’s weather, but don’t ask it to make suggestions for your daily plan based on that weather report. This is made possible with the addition of Bard.

Assistant + Bard

Google shows some examples as part of a demo. For example, Google Assistant can search your Gmail inbox and keep you updated on important emails. This is possible because Bard has recently been able to access other Google applications if you give the bot permission to do so. The updated Google Assistant will also be “able to listen through your microphone and watch through your camera,” product manager Sissie Hsiao said at the launch. That sounds a bit scary.

Assistant with Bard will begin rolling out to Android and iOS devices soon, although Google hasn’t set a deadline for it yet. They say they want to test how people would use the new Assistant version with a limited audience before rolling it out to a wider audience. Google promises to be able to speak languages ​​other than English. Bard has also been available in Belgium since July, so there are no obstacles to introducing the virtual assistant here either.