Google Bard Becomes Gemini Today 8th Feb 2024: More Powerful AI by Google

Bard is transitioning to Gemini. Here’s what you need to know about this change:

What’s Changing When Bard Transitions to Gemini?

• Name: The primary change is the name. Bard is adopting the name Gemini, aligning itself with the underlying multimodal generative AI model that powers it. This aims to avoid confusion and represent a step forward in AI capabilities.
• New features: The transition introduces some exciting new features:
  • Gemini Advanced: A paid subscription tier offering advanced capabilities like more powerful coding assistance, complex logical reasoning, and enhanced multilingual support.
  • Mobile app: The AI will have a dedicated Android app for easier access and interaction. An iOS version is planned for the future.
  • Improved capabilities: Even the free version benefits from the underlying Gemini model, potentially offering better reasoning, planning, and understanding compared to Bard.

What’s staying the same?

• Core functionality: The core functionalities you loved about Bard, like creative writing, information retrieval, and collaborative capabilities, are still there and will continue to improve.
• Accessibility: The free version of Gemini remains accessible to everyone.

Timeline

• The transition is already underway, with some users experiencing Gemini Pro within Bard for advanced tasks.
• Gemini Advanced, the paid tier, is currently available in English and rolling out globally.
• The dedicated Android app is out now, with an iOS version and broader language support coming soon.

Technical Details

• Model updates: The new AI is powered by the larger and more powerful “Gemini” AI model, which Google initially trained on text and code but now understands audio and images too. This allows for multimodal understanding and potentially better performance in complex tasks.
• Performance: The AI models run significantly faster on Google’s custom-designed AI accelerators (TPUs) compared to Bard, leading to quicker responses and faster processing.
• Security and privacy: Google emphasizes its commitment to responsible AI development with transparency and privacy in mind. You can find details about their AI Principles and Data Governance practices on their website.

Future Roadmap

• Community features: Google plans to introduce community features in the future, allowing users to share content and learn from each other.
• More use cases: The model is being explored for various applications beyond search and assistance, like personalized education, scientific research, and creative content generation.
• Accessibility and ethics: Google emphasizes making it’s AI accessible and beneficial to everyone while addressing potential ethical concerns surrounding AI development and usage. They are actively working on fairness, bias mitigation, and explainability within the models.

What’s Available

• Some users: A limited number of users have access to the Pro version within Bard for advanced tasks. This feature is currently rolling out gradually.
• Android app: The dedicated Android app is available for download now.
• Free version improvements: Even the free version of Bard, while still called Bard, benefits from the underlying model in terms of reasoning, planning, and understanding.

What’s Not Yet Available

• Complete transition: Bard hasn’t fully transitioned to Gemini yet. This means most users still experience the “Bard” interface and features.
• Gemini Advanced for everyone: The paid subscription tier, Gemini Advanced, is still rolling out globally and not yet available to everyone.
• iOS app: An iOS version of the Gemini app is planned but not yet released.
• Community features: These are still in development and not yet available.