Google Pixel phones may soon have ChatGPT-rival Bard right on home screen

Google is reportedly working on bringing its conversational Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbot, Bard AI, to Pixel phones and tablets. Already late to the party, Bard AI does not appear quite as powerful as Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but it is maturing gradually. Google now wants to expand the reach of its AI chatbot to make it more popular as it prepares to take on ChatGPT.

Google’s Bard AI may soon find a spot on the home screen of Pixel devices as a widget. Folks at 9to5Google claimed to have found a reference to the potential availability of the AI software on Pixel devices while inspecting Bard’s code. That hints at what could be the first-ever implementation of Google’s AI software on a phone. However, it is unclear whether Bard AI will be accessible on Android through a dedicated app or if it will be integrated into the Google Search app. A home screen widget could be even a shortcut to the Bard AI website, so it is really not clear.

Can Pixel phones make Google’s Bard AI popular?

Bard AI is not widely accessible right now. Unlike ChatGPT or Bing AI — which are available to everyone, Bard AI is limited to only Pixel fans. Anyone else who wants to try out Bard AI is required to join a waitlist. If Google’s plan to implement Bard AI as a home screen widget on Pixel phones succeeds, it will not solve the problem of limited availability either. Pixel phones are not the highest-selling phones in most markets, but that is what makes Google’s job easy. Before making the Bard AI available to everyone, Google is treading carefully so as to avoid any more embarrassment.

Will Bard AI’s problems go away?

A few days after Bard AI was open to a select few users, some existing and former Google employees criticised the company’s AI chatbot. They referred to Bard AI as “worse than useless” and a “pathological liar.” According to Bloomberg, some internal messages shared among Google employees associated with Bard AI painted a worrying picture of how dangerous the AI chatbot could potentially become. They suggested Bard AI often offered wrong, misleading, and potentially life-threatening advice on a variety of topics.

Some of the users who had access to Bard AI, too, expressed their concern about the kind of responses they received. Not only were these responses deemed wrong from a human point of view, but they also urged users to choose unethical routes. The inadept AI chatbot from Google could have been a result of a rushed launch, according to experts and critics. Google, which is a behemoth that has been making significant investments in the field of Artificial Intelligence, felt embarrassed after a small AI startup — backed by rival Microsoft — outshined it with the launch of ChatGPT.

With the launch on Pixel phones, Google may try to widen the testing of Bard AI further and record feedback to better the AI chatbot till the company feels it is ready to counter ChatGPT.