When OpenAI launched ChatGPT almost two years ago, many Big Tech companies began to panic, lacking similar products to rival the futuristic service. One of them was Google, but the industry giant quickly shifted its focus to generative AI to keep pace. Google’s AI chatbot,Bard, was born out of this shift in priorities, as was its new multimodal backend,Gemini. Google Assistant — the default virtual assistant on most Android phones — has been undergoing a series of changes to accommodate Bard. Now, screenshots have leaked depicting how the so-called Assistant with Bard may look on Android mobile devices as they head toward integration.
Android app developerDylan Rousselposted an update on X (formerly Twitter) including images of what Assistant with Bard will possibly look like when it hits Android mobile products. Upon activating Assistant with Bard on your device, you’ll be asked to either type, talk, or share a photo in a floating popup (via9to5Google).
The AI bot replies to future inputs with a “What’s on your mind?” popup, where you can then prompt it to help you with other tasks. For example, you can ask Assistant with Bard to help you capture information based on what is displayed on your screen. For now, it seems that Google will include a few different options with each Bard response, such as thumbs up/down and share/export. As always, these may change when the final version of Assistant with Bard is rolled out to the public.
The overlay that appears when triggering Assistant with Bard is slightly smaller than the current popup thanks to a small amount of empty space around the edges of the UI. However, this can still be expanded to a full-screen interface if you need more room to work. When using the expanded UI, you’re able to tap the back button in the top-left corner to open a list of all your ongoing chats with Bard.
Google’s decision to ultimately merge Assistant and Bard has been a long time coming. However, imagery depicting actual developments has been scarce until recently. Ateardown of the Google app APKat the beginning of 2024 shed light on some of the changes. At the time, it seemed as if saying “Hey Google” or long-pressing the power button on a device could activate Assistant with Bard. It also looked like the chatbot would prompt you to use it to deploy other device features. Again, none of these details or supposed developments were deemed official by Google.
Assistant with Bard is expected to launch at some point in 2024, but no release date has been given by the company. While Assistant is already available on the iPhone, Bard integration isn’t expected to be made immediately available to Apple users — in fact, it may belimited to the Pixel 8 and Galaxy S24series at first. If you’re one of the lucky Android device owners who will get it, there’s a lot to be excited about on the AI front — and it could just be what you need to ease into the ever-expanding world of artificial intelligence products and services.
