Google’s conversational AI chatbot, called Bard, is now available to teens in most countries around the world, the company said this week in a blog post. Teenage users in those areas must meet the minimum age requirements to manage their own Google account, which generally falls between 14 and 16. They’ll be able to access it only in English for now, with more languages to be added.
The news comes two months after Google noted that it was expanding access to its AI-powered search experience, or SGE, to teens who signed up for the company’s Search Labs.
Throughout both the Bard and SGE posts, Google emphasized that it’s “continuing to be responsible” as it opens up the generative AI tools to more people. For all the ways that gen AI promises to be a useful tool, in endeavors ranging widely from travel and event planning to business research to education, it has pitfalls for those who aren’t paying close attention.
See also: Travel Planning With AI: I Tested It for a City I Know Inside and Out
The Bard post, for instance, makes note of generative AI’s susceptibility to hallucinations, which happen when the large language models underlying AI chatbots generate incorrect or nonsensical text. The first time a teen asks a factual question, the site will automatically run its double-check response feature to help evaluate if there’s web content to substantiate Bard’s answer. The site will also recommend that teens regularly use the feature, which will soon automatically run when any new Bard user asks their first factual question, according to the blog post.
The field of AI chatbots and generative AI has exploded since OpenAI introduced its ChatGPT service to the public a year ago this month. In July, Google was one of four leading artificial intelligence companies, including Microsoft, to launch the Frontier Model Forum, an industry group aimed at identifying best AI safety practices and promoting its responsible use.
In its SGE post in September, Google said it has…
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