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You can now use Bard for coding or help with Google Sheets functions

Bard can help with over 20 programming languages.
By
April 21, 2023
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TL;DR
  • Google has added coding capabilities to its AI chatbot.
  • Bard is now able to help with over 20 programming languages.
  • The chatbot can also be used to help create functions in Google Sheets.

Earlier this month, Google introduced an “Experiment updates” page to notify users of changes to Bard. Today, the updates page got its second-ever notification revealing new capabilities for the AI chatbot.

On the updates page, Google announced it has given Bard the ability to generate code. Users can now also use Bard to debug existing code and help explain lines of code. However, something average users will probably find more useful is the ability to create functions in Google Sheets.

According to the tech giant, Bard can help with over 20 programming languages including C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript. Additionally, when Python code is generated, you can export and test the code directly in Google Colab.

Bard coding
Google

In a blog post that also addressed the change, Group Product Manager of Google Research Paige Bailey added this warning.

Bard is still an early experiment, and may sometimes provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently. When it comes to coding, Bard may give you working code that doesn’t produce the expected output, or provide you with code that is not optimal or incomplete. Always double-check Bard’s responses and carefully test and review code for errors, bugs and vulnerabilities before relying on it. Despite these challenges, we believe Bard’s new capabilities can help you by offering new ways to write code, create test cases, or update APIs. If Bard quotes at length from an existing open source project, it will cite the source.

Today’s update also revealed the company has added more variety to drafts in Bard. “When you view other drafts, you’ll now see a wider range of options that are more distinct from each other.” The purpose of this change is to expand users’ “creative explorations.”

Google adding coding and Sheets function creation to Bard is a nice touch. But it seems the conversational AI is still playing a bit of catch-up given that ChatGPT has had this capability for a while.