Google has announced the expansion of its generative AI experiment, Bard, in Arabic, making it the largest expansion since its launch in English earlier this year. Bard is a tool designed to unlock people’s creative potential, enhance learning, and increase productivity by simplifying complex content.
To support its Arabic users, Bard is powered by Google’s latest language model called PaLM2, which possesses a multilingual understanding of information. It can comprehend questions in over 16 Arabic dialects, including Egyptian colloquial Arabic and Saudi colloquial Arabic, and respond in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Bard also supports code-switching, where users can input a mixture of Arabic and another language, and has a user interface that supports right-to-left script.
Google has introduced several new features to improve the accessibility and utility of Bard. Users can now listen to Bard’s responses by clicking on the sound icon, save and organize previous conversations, and share Bard’s responses with friends using shareable links. Additionally, developers can export Python code to Replit, an online integrated development environment, and Google Colab. Bard now incorporates the capabilities of Google Lens, allowing users to upload and use images in prompts. Users can also customize the tone and style of Bard’s responses, choosing between funny, simple, long, short, professional, or casual.
Najeeb Jarrar, Regional Director of Marketing at Google MENA, expressed his excitement for the expansion and highlighted the efforts made by the engineering team and linguistic experts to enhance Bard’s abilities in Arabic. Jarrar also emphasized Bard’s potential to assist Arabic speakers worldwide.
Jack Krawczyk, Director of Product Management at Google, mentioned their proactive engagement with experts, policymakers, and regulators to responsibly expand Bard. He reiterated Google’s commitment to using their AI Principles as a guide, incorporating user feedback, and taking measures to protect privacy and data.
Bard is currently available in over 40 languages, including Chinese, German, Hindi, and Spanish. To access Bard on desktop or mobile devices, users can visit https://bard.google.com/.
With the expansion of Bard in Arabic, Google continues its mission to empower users to explore their creativity, expand their knowledge, and enhance their productivity through innovative AI technologies.
