In an apparent effort to catch up and overtake OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, Google empowered its experimental AI chatbot, Bard, with the capability to generate, debug, and explain programming codes. This means people who are new to computer programming can utilize Bard to write and explain the reasons for certain codes, and expert programmers can also rely on the new AI technology to expedite programming tasks.
Google revealed that the new Bard functionalities are in response to the requests of users who desire help with coding. The tech giant said Bard will be able to write programming codes in Python, C++, Javascript, and 17 other programming languages. The AI chatbot is powered by LaMDA and relies on the PaLM coding model to work.
Bard is also now able to work with Google Sheets and it has been integrated with several other Google products. Work done in Bard can be exported to Colab, Google’s cloud-based notebook ecosystem for Python and other similar engines. The new Bard functionalities went live on Friday and can now be accessible by users in the United States and the United Kingdom.
While the new Bard can generate and explain reasons for most code snippets, Google warned that the technology is still in its infancy and prone to errors. The company said Bard is still experimental and “may sometimes provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently.” It said expert users should proceed with caution.
“When it comes to coding, Bard may give you working code that doesn’t produce the expected output, or provide you with code that is not optimal or incomplete,” the company said. “Always double-check Bard’s responses and carefully test and review code for errors, bugs, and vulnerabilities before relying on it.”
In cases where the AI tech churns out erroneous code, the user may just type in “this code didn’t work, please fix it” to have Bard rectify the problem or list steps for addressing the error. The chatbot is also able to optimize existing codes and make them faster and more efficient for various programming purposes. It must be understood that OpenAI’s ChatGPT is also able to write and optimize existing codes in a manner that Bard is trying to exceed.
While many companies have embraced ChatGPT and implemented newer features powered by Expedia, Snapchat, and Salesforce among others, Google CEO Sundai Pichai vowed in February that people would “see a lot from us in the coming few months,” an apparent reference to the milestones Bard is set to achieve.