Bard gets a little smarter as Google adds some PaLM upgrades

Google Bard interface
(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Google is pulling some tools from PaLM to better its AI chatbot Bard.
  • The new upgrades should help the AI "better understand and respond to your prompts for multi-step word and math problems."
  • The AI's efficiency appears important to Google as the company looks to update the program weekly.

Google's AI chatbot is getting a little smarter thanks to some new upgrades.

With Google's Bard, users can offer prompts to assist with being a little more creative or to help with a work-related issue. Recently, the company introduced some new upgrades to its chatbot thanks to its PaLM language model, as mentioned by Jack Krawczyk, Google's senior director of product. As Google continues to rake in feedback about its new AI, its primary goal in introducing PaLM is to improve Bard's abilities in math and logic.

These improvements should "better understand and respond to your prompts for multi-step word and math problems." Krawczyk adds that Bard will gain the ability to assist with coding, as well, but that is still something to look forward to. Google is reminding committed to improving Bard's overall efficiency. Krawczyk mentions that this update that brings in some of PaLM's advances is just an example of Google's weekly updates to its AI chatbot.

When we first learned about Google creating Bard, the AI tool was already powered by LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications). This application is an LLM: a large language model. Basically, it's a large neural network of computers spoonfed loads of text data to help it sound like you're communicating with a real person.

This is now being paired with PaLM, another language model, which was quite important in Google's partnership with Everyday Robotics last summer. Considering Krawczyk mentions Bard should now "understand and respond to" multi-step word prompts, this could be due to an ability PaLM utilizes known as "chain of thought prompting."

Three weeks ago, Google introduced generative AI tools coming for its Workspace Suite, such as Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more. The tools were already rolled out to trusted testers during its initial mention but have since been opened to more Workspace users. The abilities brought in by this embedded generative AI tool can help users write or rewrite emails in a specific tone for Gmail or draft and proofread excerpts and ideas in Docs.

Google opened its Bard chatbot to the general public two weeks ago after a brief day of welcoming Pixel Superfans into the testing exclusively. Users in the U.S. and the U.K. can sign up to have their name on the waiting list as Google continues to roll through it and slowly bring more people in for testing.

Nickolas Diaz
News Writer

Nickolas is always excited about tech and getting his hands on it. Writing for him can vary from delivering the latest tech story to scribbling in his journal. When Nickolas isn't hitting a story, he's often grinding away at a game or chilling with a book in his hand.