Generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing Chat and Google Bard continue to iterate and improve, and Google’s smart assistant is the latest to get a feature update – it can now respond to you in real time, if you want it to.
Until now, Bard has always taken the time to fully compose his answers before they appeared on screen. That’s unlike ChatGPT and Bing Chat, which output text in real time while the response is still being worked on.
Now Google Bard will do that by default too. The update was noticed by 9to5Googleand we’ve seen it with our own eyes too, although Bard’s changelog hasn’t been updated yet to reflect the different approach.
You should see a message on the screen when you load Bard on the web after the change has been applied. If you want to go back to the old way of doing things, click the gear icon in the top right corner and then choose Respond once you’re ready.
Still the same robot
This change is really just cosmetic: there’s no difference when it comes to the answers you actually get from the AI behind Google Bard. However, the real-time response feels more human, even though it’s still the same bot.
Now that Bard works this way, it also means that you can abort the answer before it’s ready – for example, if you’ve worded the prompt or question incorrectly, or if you see that Bard isn’t answering correctly. .
Interestingly, Bard is now copying the way ChatGPT and Bing Chat (powered by ChatGPT) have always worked, although these AI engines will ultimately be judged by the quality of their responses rather than how they reply.
As before, when Google Bard has finished responding, you can view alternative responses via the Check out other concepts link to top right. You can also click the slider at the bottom to adjust the answer (for example, make it shorter or simpler).