Google Bard: New extensions provide exciting possibilities
In the constantly growing field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology, Google is not standing still. In this world of digital advancement, Google's AI chat, known as Google Bard, has recently seen an exciting expansion: the introduction of Google Bard Extensions. These extensions, similar to what we already know from ChatGPT, open up fascinating new possibilities for users and give Google Bard additional capabilities in our digital environment.
But what exactly are Google Bard Extensions?
For those who are already familiar with ChatGPT plugins, the concept is somewhat familiar. These extensions give Google Bard the ability to communicate with other platforms and extract and process information - taking AI to a whole new level!
Currently, the available Google Bard extensions are still limited, but it is easy to imagine that their number will grow in the near future. The new project has been launched with Google's own tools, which means you can now use Google Bard to get flight and hotel information, search Google Maps and even find YouTube videos. One particularly impressive feature is Workspace Search, which allows you to find and automatically summarize documents in Google Workspace. Sounds extremely practical, doesn't it?
Which extensions are already available?
Google Bard extensions are currently available for Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google Maps, YouTube and Google Workspace. These extensions enable seamless communication with other Google apps and services and the processing of information from these sources. Here are some practical use cases for Google Bard Extensions:
1. Google Flights:
Bard can now communicate current flight prices and availability for their planned itinerary and even use flight information from their Gmail inbox to give you an overview of your upcoming flights.
2. Google Hotels:
With this extension, you can get information on current hotel prices and availability for your upcoming trip. You can even retrieve hotel information from your Gmail inbox.
3. Google Maps:
Google Bard can now pull directions, traffic information and points of interest from Google Maps and even use current location data to display relevant information.
4. YouTube:
This extension allows Google Bard to search for and play YouTube videos. It can also access YouTube watchlists and provide an overview of recently watched videos.
5. Google Workspace:
With the help of this extension, Google Bard can retrieve information from your Google Workspace applications such as Gmail, Docs, Drive and Calendar. It can summarize documents and provide quick answers to questions about your Google Workspace data.
Google has also announced that more extensions for Google Bard will be available in the future.
Using these extensions is very easy. Visit the Google Bard website and look for a new icon in the top right corner. Click on it to activate the extension. Don't worry if you don't see the icon yet - Google is rolling out the feature gradually to different users.
How do these extensions work in Bard?
Bard only uses the extensions that are enabled in your settings. When Bard recognizes a suitable extension, it automatically sends information from your Bard conversation and other relevant data to the extension. For example, Bard sends location data to Google Maps when you search for nearby cafés and the Google Maps extension is enabled.
In terms of privacy, it is important to know that Bard does not access personal content in other services without explicit permission. However, if you interact directly with another Google service in Bard, your activity may be stored by that service. Therefore, it is advisable to be aware of the privacy policy when working with these extensions.
Additional tips and tricks
- To get the maximum performance from the extensions, connect Google Bard to your Google Workspace account.
- If you no longer want to use an extension, you can simply deactivate it.
- Use the extensions in combination with each other. The extensions can complement each other and increase your productivity.
Customize the extensions to your needs. For example, you can configure the extension for Google Chrome so that it automatically generates suggestions for new words and sentences.
If you compare the plugins that are currently available for Google Bard with the extensions for ChatGPT, OpenAI's AI has so far performed better. The Google Bard extensions are currently still quite limited and are restricted to a few Google services. It remains to be seen what developments are next.