Exciting Bard Update: Now Connect Your Google Apps Effortlessly
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Chapter 1: New Features of Bard
Google has rolled out significant enhancements to its advanced AI model, PaLM 2, bringing forth a suite of impressive functionalities for Bard. One of the standout features is Bard's newfound capability to connect seamlessly with various Google applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, and Drive. This integration allows users to interact with these tools more efficiently, eliminating the hassle of copying and pasting information across different platforms.
To explore these exciting updates, let's delve into how to enable these extensions and make the most of Bard's capabilities.
Section 1.1: Activating Bard’s Extensions
To get started, visit Bard and log into your account. In the top-right corner, click on the extensions icon.
You will be presented with a list of available extensions. While some are pre-enabled, Google Workspace is not activated by default. If you wish for Bard to access your Gmail, Drive, and Docs, be sure to enable this feature.
Section 1.2: Utilizing Bard with Google Apps
After enabling the necessary extensions, simply specify which Google product you want Bard to utilize in your prompts. For instance, if you’ve been offline and want a quick overview of recent emails, Bard can summarize the latest messages for you.
Notice the new space next to the Bard logo, indicating the extension in use (in this instance, Google Workspace). By clicking on it, you can see the actions Bard is taking behind the scenes to generate your response.
Bard has shown proficiency in summarizing emails, though it’s worth noting that it might occasionally misinterpret details, as seen when it incorrectly described a course’s pricing.
Moreover, Bard enhances your Gmail experience by allowing you to draft responses, track when a contact last emailed you, summarize conversations, and more.
Chapter 2: Advanced Integrations with Google Services
Bard's capabilities extend beyond Gmail; it can also tap into your Drive or Docs for summarizing PDFs and extracting insights from documents. The real magic happens when you leverage multiple Google apps together. For example, you could plan a trip based on your Gmail contacts' availability, check real-time flight options on Google Flights, and find hotel accommodations through Google Hotels.
Here’s an illustrative example from the Google Blog.
Google assures users that when utilizing Workspace extensions, their content remains private and is not reviewed by humans, nor is it used for ad targeting or model training. For further details, refer to the linked article.
The first video titled "Connect Google Bard AI to Top Google Apps - Google Bard AI Extensions" delves into how to integrate Bard with various Google services efficiently.
Bard also introduces a new feature allowing users to verify its responses with the “Google it” button. By clicking this button, Bard evaluates its answers and checks for corroborating information online.
For instance, if you ask Bard about learning Python, you can verify the accuracy of its response. The “G” button highlights statements with supporting information in green, while those with contradictions or no support are marked differently.
You can explore more about the highlighted statements by clicking on the provided source links.
Additionally, a noteworthy feature from this update is the ability to build upon shared conversations. If someone shares a Bard chat via a public link, you can seamlessly continue the discussion.
That's a wrap on the latest updates! For more details, visit the official article.
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The second video titled "NEW Google Bard Extensions | How to Connect Bard to Your Google Apps" provides a step-by-step guide on connecting Bard with your Google applications.