On Tuesday, Google announced that it had integrated Gmail, YouTube, and other tools into its Bard chatbot.

Consequently, Google aims to convince users that generative AI is both useful and safe, rather than just a passing trend.

The alphabet owned firm has quietly been developing AI features for years, but it faced a surprise challenge when OpenAI released ChatGPT late last year in together with Microsoft, offering its capabilities to users worldwide.

Google Launches Chatbot

In response, Google quickly launched its own Bard chatbot earlier this year, making it available in over 40 languages

Additionally, the alphabet company also addressed data privacy concerns raised by European lawmakers.

The company stressed that its enhanced chatbot enables users to perform new tasks.

Such tasks include summarizing complex email threads into their main points or using Maps to find the optimal route to a holiday destination.

These features, known as Bard Extensions, also enable users to extract key information from content across Docs and storage via Drive.

Also Read: Alphabet: Google’s parent company sued over unfair competition

Google reading your messages

The copying of data is however not limited to PDFs. Moreover, the chatbot introduced a new feature that allows users to identify incorrect answers.

In addition, the answers are verified by comparing Bard’s output with the results of a Google search query.

The google query will be based on the same topic, this will ensure flagging any discrepancies.

This development aims to alleviate concerns about occasional “hallucinations” or inaccurate responses.

The latest updates corrects glitches that users may encounter when using Bard, ChatGPT, or Microsoft’s Bing.

Bard’s new features closely align with Microsoft’s offerings, which integrate AI capabilities into its Office 365 applications.

Charges for AI features

However this will come at an extra cost to customers and not through the Bing chatbot.

To address privacy concerns, a pop-up message on the Bard webpage assures users that the new features will only access personal data “with your permission.”

Furthermore, Google insisted that any data picked from its workplace tools, such as Docs, Drive, or Gmail, will not be used for ad targeting, training Bard, or reviewed by a human eye.