Bard creates a direct line for Google Messages

ChatGPT and other text conversational AI bots have taken the world by storm, and big tech companies have been looking for ways to augment their existing offerings with these new AI capabilities. Specifically, AI is already playing a major role in enabling features like Google Lens and advanced autocomplete in Google Docs and Gmail. Conversational AI like Google Bard can make it easy to reply to messages, and the initial signs of apps like this are already showing in Google Messages.

When testing running the latest beta version of the Messages app, Discover 9to5Google An interesting recent addition to the message composition box. The icon designed to resemble a glitter is something Google has associated with Bard in its limited public appearances so far, and it’s placed next to the Emoji icon in the message composition box in Messages.

While the company hasn’t talked about Bard’s role in messages yet, the beta version of the app doesn’t allow for crafting full responses using AI just yet. Clicking the button inserted “(TODO!)” into the message box, and nothing more. Fortunately, the limited functionality makes it clear that you’ll have a chance to review the AI’s manual work before shooting the message, and Bard won’t send its automatically generated response.

This capability could be a huge step forward from Smart Reply, which generates some contextual responses with a tap that you can use if you’re in a hurry. With the language processing capabilities of AI, it should be possible to generate detailed, context-aware responses of up to several sentences.

While we may have to wait until Google I/O for the official reveal of Bard for Google Messages, you can sign up for an early test of Bard if you live in the US or UK. The test is gradually reaching more people, and the hilarious responses are worth checking out. Considering AI’s recent attempts to show it understands (or lack thereof), it’s nice to be able to review AI-generated messages before they’re sent.