Google to let users use ‘Classic Assistant’ over Bard upon its rollout

Google’s AI-powered chatbot Bard is expected to launch in the coming months. In the lead-up to the release of this new Assistant, Google says that users will be able to continue the ‘Classic Assistant.’

Bard is Google’s next evolution of its Assistant. It’s being designed to be a voice-based Assistant, with tailored responses to voice, text and image queries. Bard will also feature integrations with Google apps like Gmail, Docs and Maps.

Thanks to Android expert AssembleDebug, evidence has been discovered that Google will support both ‘Assistant with Bard’ and the “Classic Google Assistant.” Found within strings of the Google app, it’s believed that not all current Assistant features will be available for Assistant with Bard. Instead, users need to choose between the AI-powered chatbot and the classic version.

Google first announced Assistant with Bard during the Pixel 8 launch. At the time, it seemed like the company was going all in on Bard being the Assistant moving forward. Bard is able to provide a more personal experience that can pull contextualized information based on previous queries.

🧵 Thread –
• Choose between Assistant with Bard and the classic Google Assistant
• To use this feature, change to classic Assistant in Settings
• Not all of the classic Assistant settings will be available in Assistant with Bard.

Continued..#Google #Android #AI #Bard pic.twitter.com/TyJK6aCQJQ

— AssembleDebug (@AssembleDebug) November 22, 2023

The core Bard chatbot has been slowly rolling out across 180 countries and territories — unfortunately, not including Canada. It’s noted that reasons for Canada’s omission could be drawn from Bill C-27, which covers AI regulations. Another possibility is that the Canadian privacy authorities are investigating ChatGPT and its collection of personal information. While not directly affecting Bard, this could be why the Canadian launch is on ice for now.

When attempting to use Bard via the Google website in Canada, users are met with a message reading, “Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned!” This is the same message that has been displayed over the course of the year.

The key awaited feature for Assistant with Bard is full mobile integration. Bard is largely accessible via the web, so it’s not the most convenient feature to use on mobile. Integration into Assistant will enable users to have full-fledged power at their fingertips. Some Pixel 8 users are already testing Assistant with Bard with early access.

When the new Bard integration does launch, it’ll arrive to the public on both Android and iOS.

Source: @AssembleDebug Via: Android Police