Google today announced that its experimental large language model (LLM), Bard, is now available for teens with a set of safety features designed to protect younger users from potentially harmful content. Bard, first introduced in 2022, has gained popularity for its ability to generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer questions in an informative way.
Key Highlights
- Bard is now available for teens in most countries around the world, with safety guardrails in place to prevent unsafe content from appearing in its responses.
- Bard has been trained to recognize areas that are inappropriate for younger users and will actively recommend the use of its double-check response feature to help teens develop information literacy and critical thinking skills.
- Bard’s new chart generation capability allows users to create visualizations of data from text-based descriptions.
Enhanced Safety Features for Teens
In an effort to ensure a safe and positive experience for teens, Google has implemented several safety features into Bard. These features include:
- Content filtering: Bard has been trained to identify and avoid generating content that is considered inappropriate for younger users, such as violence, hate speech, or sexually suggestive material.
- Double-check response: For fact-based questions, Bard will prompt teens to use its double-check , which helps evaluate whether there’s content across the web to substantiate Bard’s response. This feature encourages teens to develop critical thinking skills and become informed consumers of information.
- Active recommendations: Bard will actively recommend that teens use its double-check response feature to help them develop information literacy and critical thinking skills.
Chart Generation Capability
In addition to the new safety features, Bard also now has the ability to generate charts from text-based descriptions. This new capability allows users to easily create visualizations of data, making it a valuable tool for students, researchers, and anyone who needs to present data in a clear and concise way.
Expanding Access and Promoting Responsible AI Use
Google is committed to expanding access to Bard while ensuring its responsible use. The availability of Bard for teens demonstrates the company’s efforts to make AI technology accessible to a wider audience while prioritizing safety and education. By providing teens with a safe and engaging platform to explore the potential of AI, Google hopes to foster a generation of informed and responsible AI users.
Google’s expansion of Bard to teens, along with its enhanced safety features and new chart generation capability, marks a significant milestone in the development of AI-powered tools for younger users. By prioritizing safety and education, Google is setting a precedent for the responsible use of AI technology in the hands of future generations.
