Google expands Bard into 59 new markets with 40 additional languages

By Onome Amuge.

Google has announced the expansion of Bard, its conversational AI service, into  59 new countries and territories, with the inclusion of  40 new languages including Swahili,the first African language.

The expansion, which further strengthens Google’s competitiveness in the generative AI sector,  includes new features that allow users to better customise their experience,boost their creativity and get more done.

With the expansion, the Alphabet-owned company said Bard is now available in most parts of the world, and in the most widely spoken languages, including Swahili, Chinese, German, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish. Moreso, users can now access Bard in their preferred language with text-to-speech also enabled in eight languages.

Commenting on the development, Dorothy Ooko, head of communications and public affairs, SSA, Google, said, “We’re excited that this is Bard’s largest expansion to date – we see its global availability as a great democratizer of knowledge.”

“That’s why we created Bard: to help you explore that curiosity, augment your imagination and ultimately get your ideas off the ground — not just by answering your questions, but by helping you build on them,” Ooko added.

As part of the expansion, new updates have been introduced to make the Bard experience more interactive and user-friendly. The ‘Listen to Responses’ feature now provides an auditory dimension to Bard’s responses, making it particularly useful for gaining accurate pronunciation or understanding a script, with just a simple click on the sound icon.

In addition, users can now adjust Bard’s responses by changing the tone and style of its responses to five different options: simple, long, short, professional or casual, offering a tailored interaction to match individual needs.  Google noted that while this feature has been initially launched in English, plans are underway to extend it to other languages, broadening its accessibility to users around the globe.

Four additional features were also introduced to help users enjoy more innovative experiences. Users can now pin and rename their conversations with Bard, making it easier to revisit conversations that contain important information or ideas later.

Through the “export code to more places” feature, users can now export Python code to Replit, in addition to Google Colab, making it easier for users to share their code with others or use it in other projects. Users will also be able to share responses with friends using shareable links, making it easier to collaborate on projects or get feedback on ideas.

Also launched is the feature allowing users to upload images with prompts to Bard.

With the recent innovations, Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of Google’s large language models. It draws on information from the web to provide responses.

Google,however, noted that as an experimental technology, Bard may occasionally make inaccurate or unsafe statements in response to user prompts. It therefore advised users to visit support.google.com to report such issues or to provide feedback.