From Bard to Gemini: A Look at the Evolution of Google's AI Assistant

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8 Apr 2024

We asked Gemini Advanced (Ultra 1.0) to write about the history of Bard based on https://gemini.google.com/updates
In 2019, Google AI introduced Bard, a factual language model that could generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. Since then, Bard has undergone a number of updates and improvements, culminating in its recent renaming to Gemini. …
This is where we had to ask Gemini to: fact-check your dates please, Bard was introduced in 2023 and not 2019
You're absolutely right, and I apologize for the mistake. Bard was indeed introduced in 2023, on April 10th, to be precise. I'm still under development, and I'm always learning new things. Thank you for pointing out my error!
In 2023, Google AI introduced Bard, a factual language model that could generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way. Since then, Bard has undergone a number of updates and improvements, culminating in its recent renaming to Gemini.
One of the most significant changes to Gemini is its ability to access information from Google apps and services. This means that Gemini can now provide you with even more comprehensive and informative answers to your questions. For example, if you ask Gemini "What is the capital of France?", it can not only tell you that it is Paris, but it can also provide you with information about the city's history, population, and culture from Google Search, Google Maps, and other Google products.
In addition to its new ability to access Google apps and services, Gemini has also been expanded to generate different creative text formats, like poems, code, scripts, musical pieces, email, letters, etc. This means that Gemini can now be used for a wider range of tasks, from writing a poem for a loved one to generating code for a new software application.
Overall, the evolution of Bard to Gemini represents a significant step forward in the development of AI assistants. Gemini is now more powerful, versatile, and informative than ever before, and it is sure to continue to evolve and improve in the years to come.

What were the detailed updates to Bard over time?

February 2024: Bard was renamed to Gemini. It was announced that Bard would be integrated with Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. Additionally, Bard gained the ability to create images.
January 2024: Bard was renamed to Gemini. It was announced that Bard would be integrated with Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. Bard gained the ability to access helpful information from Google apps and services. This included information from YouTube, Hotels, Flights, and Maps. Users could now collaborate with Bard on their content in Gmail, Docs, and Drive. Additionally, Bard could now generate charts from data included in prompts or from tables that Bard generates.
December 2023: Bard received several updates, including the ability to understand and summarize YouTube videos, generate more creative text formats, like poems and code, and translate between more languages. Additionally, users can now access Bard through Workspace accounts and export Bard-generated content to Google Docs and Gmail.
November 2023: Bard received several updates, including the ability to understand and respond to YouTube videos, summarize more emails at once, and generate charts from data. Additionally, users can now upload images with Google Lens and Bard can read responses out loud in over 40 languages.
October 2023: Bard received several updates, including the ability to summarize more emails at once, understand when users are asking for recent emails, and generate charts from data. Additionally, users can now modify Bard's responses to be simpler, longer, shorter, more professional, or more casual.
September 2023: Bard gained the ability to access and process information from real-time sources like Maps, YouTube, Hotels, and Flights. This allowed users to pull together information across different sources to bring ideas to life more easily. Additionally, Bard could now summarize more emails at once and better understand requests for recent emails. Users could also upload images with Google Lens and incorporate them into their conversations.
July 2023: Bard gained the ability to access and process information from real-time sources like Maps, YouTube, Hotels, and Flights. This allowed users to pull together information across different sources to bring ideas to life more easily. Additionally, Bard could now summarize more emails at once and better understand requests for recent emails. Users could also upload images with Google Lens and incorporate them into their conversations.
May 2023: Bard gained the ability to summarize information more concisely. It also improved its ability to identify the parts of its responses that matched different sources. Additionally, it could now generate responses in Japanese and Korean. Other updates included the ability to export content to Google Docs and Gmail, switch to a dark theme, and help with coding in over 20 programming languages.
April 2023: Bard gained the ability to help with coding in over 20 programming languages. This includes generating, exporting, and debugging code, as well as explaining how code works. Bard also improved its capabilities for math and logic.