As part of its latest update, Bard has introduced a feature that helps users double-check its responses chatbot’s responses using Google search for accuracy.
When conversing with Bard in English, users will see a “G” icon they can click to have Bard evaluate whether its response can be substantiated by information found on the web. If Bard’s statement can be evaluated, key phrases will become highlighted. Users can then click the highlighted text to see supplementary information from Google Search results pages, including both supporting and contradicting content.
The statements are highlighted in green or red color. Green means a Google search found content that is similar to the statement and red means that it found content that is likely different from the statement, or it did not find relevant content. The non-highlighted text suggests that there is not enough information to evaluate those statements or they are not intended to convey factual information.
Currently, Bard cannot substantiate content in tables and code.
The links provided come directly from Google Search results and do not imply that those specific webpages informed Bard’s original response, stated Google in a statement. Rather, the feature allows users to quickly cross-reference Bard’s statements against what can be found online.
The company also said that the goal of the new functionality is to make users feel more confident in the information Bard generates using artificial intelligence. As people increasingly use AI tools to learn about complex topics in new ways, Google aims to provide guardrails to check the accuracy and truthfulness of AI content.
We played with the feature and, while it does what it claims to do, it is too early to say if it can actually help address the problem of model hallucination in large language models.
Another major new feature announced by Bard is the introduction of extensions. The extensions will allow users to integrated Bard with their Google apps such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights and hotels, to receive personalized responses.
