Google Tests New AI Chatbot ‘Apprentice Bard’ Amid ChatGPT Buzz: CNBC

Without providing a specific timeline, Pichai indicated the artificial intelligence tools will be deployed in Google’s search soon. The goal is for customers to contact Verizon once, and for the champion to then provide updates via the My Verizon app, text messages, or call backs. Live Caption lets you automatically add subtitles to videos or audio playing on your device, while Smart Reply suggests responses in messaging apps. On Pixel phones, you’ll get perks like Call Screen (where AI answers spam calls for you), Hold for Me (AI waits on hold during customer service calls), and Now Playing (which identifies songs playing around you without you having to ask). Many of these features work offline and don’t require any setup — they’re just there when you need them. Many publishers depend on the search engine for traffic when news breaks.

Proton is launching a privacy-focused AI chatbot

Deep Research is one of Gemini’s most impressive features, letting you get comprehensive reports on complex topics without having to do all the legwork yourself. You give Gemini a research question, and it’ll spend several minutes systematically searching the web, analyzing sources, and compiling everything into a detailed, well-organized report. It’s like having a researcher who can dig through lots of sources in only a few minutes. That said, it can be confusing to know which Gemini features are free and which ones you have to pay for. Some features, like the groundbreaking Google Veo 3 AI video generator, currently aren’t available for free users. Between the web, the Gemini app, and Android OS 16, here are all the things you can do for free using Google Gemini.

Gems are one of Gemini’s coolest features — they’re custom AI assistants that you can create for specific tasks. Google recently rolled them out to all users, putting them ahead of competitors like OpenAI, which charges $20 per month for custom GPTs. Gemini can generate images from text prompts with a free account, unlike many other AI services. Just describe what you want to see, and Gemini will create it for you using the Imagen 4 model, Google’s latest-and-greatest image generation model.

“We believe that AI is foundational and transformative technology that is incredibly useful for individuals, businesses and communities, and as our AI Principles outline, we need to consider the broader societal impacts these innovations can have,” said Lily Lin, a Google spokesperson. Pichai didn’t say in his post whether Bard will be able to write prose in the vein of William Shakespeare, the playwright who apparently inspired the service’s name. Bard initially will be available exclusively to a group of “trusted testers” before being widely released later this year, according to a Monday blog post from Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Bard vs. ChatBot

Now, when we compared the best AI image generators, Gemini didn’t make the cut, but it’s getting better all the time. Once or twice in the blog post, you get a sense that Pichai is perhaps frustrated with OpenAI’s prominence. While never name checking OpenAI or ChatGPT directly, he links to Google’s Transformer research project, calling it “field-defining” and “the basis of many of the generative AI applications you’re starting to see today,” which is entirely true.

Yet industry leaders have cried foul about the tech giant’s use of their content in products such as Google News, which displays headlines and short snippets of articles. You can access Lumo now by heading to lumo.proton.me, or downloading the Lumo app for iOS and Android. Users who don’t have an account with Lumo or Proton can only ask the chatbot a “limited number” of questions each week, and they won’t be able to access their chat histories. Meanwhile, users with a free account can view an encrypted chat history, upload small files, and favorite a limited number of chats. There’s also a $12.99-per-month Lumo Plus plan for access to unlimited chats, extended encrypted chat history, unlimited favorites, and the ability to upload large files.

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While there are paid plans for Google AI, aka Gemini, you can access many of its most popular features for free. Google did not comment specifically on the projects reported by CNBC but told Insider it has “long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives.” Publicly available information show revenues at Alphabet — Google’s parent company — rose 41% in 2021, while Alphabet Class A shares have fallen 32% since January 2022.

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Google Photos has become an AI hub, with new tools added on a regular basis. Magic Eraser lets you remove unwanted objects and people from photos with a simple tap, while Photo Unblur sharpens those frustratingly blurry shots you can’t retake. Magic Editor goes even further, using generative AI to help you move objects around in photos or change backgrounds entirely. These features were previously locked behind paid subscriptions but are now available to everyone. Android devices come packed with AI features that work behind the scenes, many of which you might not even realize are powered by artificial intelligence.

That’s how much Google’s parent company Alphabet spent on research and development last year, up from $31.6 billion in 2021, according to company filings. Other than the Apprentice Bard, Google is also testing other AI-powered products, including a search page. This is just weeks after the tech giant’s management reportedly issued a “code red” over the rise of ChatGPT, which has been making waves recently as it’s able to generate written human-like text.

Is Google Gemini free? Yes, and here’s everything you can do for free with Google AI.

• There are other features on Android too, beyond access to Gemini itself.
• The new chatbot—a software programmed to simulate human conversation—will initially be available to a limited number of users in the U.S. and the U.K., and more users, countries and languages will be included over time, Google said Tuesday, but did not specify exactly how many users would have access to the technology.
• Though Lumo comes with the ability to search the web, Proton turns this feature off by default to “give users maximum privacy.” If users enable the feature, Lumo will search the web for answers using “privacy-friendly” search engines.
• The Gemini API free tier gives you limited access to the Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and other models.
• Just hit the “Explore Gems” button in the left-hand sidebar, then create a “New Gem.” You’ll give it instructions, upload related files you want it to reference, and then you can use it.

The Gemini API free tier gives you limited access to the Gemini 2.5 Pro, Gemini 2.5 Flash, and other models. We should note that when you use the free tier, Google says your inputs and outputs can be “used to improve our products.” There are other features on Android too, beyond access to Gemini itself.

The hosts actually discuss your material, make connections between ideas, and even banter back and forth. You can download these audio summaries and listen while commuting or working out. Because of how Deep Research works, it’s likely to be more accurate than typical AI searches — though as with anything AI, you’ll want to double-check important information and be on the lookout for hallucinations in the results. While Bard is only available to “trusted testers” right now, it is due to roll out to the general public over the next few weeks. Google has used its lightweight model version of LaMDA, which requires less computing power to operate, to allow it to serve more users, and thus get more feedback. Here at PopSci, we will jump in and try it out as soon as we get the chance.

Healthcare Chatbots: AI Benefits to Healthcare Providers

This is how a chatbot functions like the one-stop-shop for responding to all basic inquiries in seconds. Patients don’t require calling the clinic or spending time on the site navigation for finding the data they require. Maybe this use case is more regarding the progress to arrive from machine learning, but that data’s extraction may and could very properly be in automated types of support and outreach. Rather, it is possible to suspect that there will be a connection between the automatic discovery of pertinent data and delivering it, everything with an object of providing more customized treatment. Harnessing the strength of data is another scope – especially machine learning – to assess data and studies quicker than ever. With the continuous outflow of new cancer research, it’s difficult to keep records of the experimental resolutions.

• Needless to say, even the smallest mistake in diagnosis can result in very serious consequences for a patient, so there is really no room for error.
• Recent advances in the development and application of chatbot technologies and the rapid uptake of messenger platforms have fueled the explosion in chatbot use and development that has taken place since 2016 [3].
• For all their apparent understanding of how a patient feels, they are machines and cannot show empathy.
• Thus, a 24/7 available digital solution can be a perfect alternative and this is one of the main benefits of chatbots.
• The main function of mental health chatbots is to provide immediate assistance and guidance in the form of useful tips, guided meditations, and regular well-being checks.

No more waiting on hold for hours or feeling embarrassed about reaching out – these chatbots are there to help, 24/7. And if you ever forget when to take your meds or go to an appointment, these chatbots can send you reminders too. So, all in all, healthcare virtual assistant chatbots are there to make managing your healthcare as easy as possible.

Example of a medical chatbot

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has driven the use of chatbots in public health, of concern is the degree to which governments have accessed information under the rubric of security in the fight against the disease. The sharing of health data gathered through symptom checking for COVID-19 by commercial entities and government agencies presents a further challenge for data privacy benefits of chatbots in healthcare laws and jurisdictional boundaries [51]. The timeline for the studies, illustrated in Figure 3, is not surprising given the huge upsurge of interest in chatbots from 2016 onward. Although health services generally have lagged behind other sectors in the uptake and use of chatbots, there has been greater interest in application domains such as mental health since 2016.

Future assistants may support more sophisticated multimodal interactions, incorporating voice, video, and image recognition for a more comprehensive understanding of user needs. At the same time, we can expect the development of advanced chatbots that understand context and emotions, leading to better interactions. The integration of predictive analytics can enhance bots’ capabilities to anticipate potential health issues based on historical data and patterns.

How to Overcome These Drawbacks With a Smart Chatbot?

Some of these errors can be very serious and dangerous, such as giving wrong medication instructions or suggesting that the patient developed a new condition that does not exist. One of the most significant advantages of healthcare chatbots is they have no more hold time. Customers can ask their questions, receive answers, and get what they need without having to wait on hold. Because these tasks are repetitive, chatbots are excellent tools for automation by artificial intelligence systems such as healthcare chatbots. The ability to have your questions answered instantly by a chatbot makes it easier for people to find answers and get back to what they were doing. Although AI chatbots can provide support and resources for mental health issues, they cannot replicate the empathy and nuanced understanding that human therapists offer during counseling sessions [6,8].

One of the authors screened the titles and abstracts of the studies identified through the database search, selecting the studies deemed to match the eligibility criteria. The second author then screened 50% of the same set of identified studies at random to validate the first author’s selection. He has got more than 6 years of experience in handling the task related to Customer Management and Project Management. Apart from his profession he also has keen interest in sharing the insight on different methodologies of software development. We all know that health-related emergencies can arise at any time and it is not necessary that our doctors are available for us whenever we get indulged in any emergency.

However, this may involve the passing on of private data, medical or financial, to the chatbot, which stores it somewhere in the digital world. Also, if the chatbot has to answer a flood of questions, it may be confused and start to give garbled answers. If something’s not working, or if the chatbot’s answers are confusing, you can usually contact the support team for the chatbot. According to a report from Deloitte, chatbots are used by more than 90% of large companies and 64% of small businesses in the UK.

This doctor-patient relationship, built on trust, rapport, and understanding, is not something that can be automated or substituted with AI chatbots. Additionally, while chatbots can provide general health information and manage routine tasks, their current capabilities do not extend to answering complex medical queries. These queries often require deep medical knowledge, critical thinking, and years of clinical experience that chatbots do not possess at this point in time [7]. Thus, the intricate medical questions and the nuanced patient interactions underscore the indispensable role of medical professionals in healthcare. Many US doctors and hospitals now use healthcare chatbots to help patients find and schedule appointments with appropriate healthcare providers.