A few months ago, Google unveiled Bard, its Generative AI-based chatbot, which integrates with Google Search. It has been released in 180 countries since its announcement. However, it was restricted to adults, and it is now being made available to teens. And to make it available in a safe manner, there are certain safety measures.
Google Bard is said to be safe for teens, with safety measures in place
Starting today, Google Bard is available to teens (children aged 13-19) in most countries where the AI chatbot is available. However, it is only available to those who have set English as their preferred language. Support for more languages is coming in the future, but no strict timelines have been provided. Google said that Bard has been trained to be safe for teens, so it recognizes areas that can be inappropriate for younger users.
Google says there is a special onboarding process for teens. It uses Google's AI Literacy Guide, which is a video that teaches users how to use AI chatbot responsibly, how Bard Activity is used, and how to turn Bard on or off.
Google Bard's safety features prevent unsafe content, such as illegal or age-inappropriate content, from appearing in search results or responses. When teenagers ask fact-based questions, Google Bard will use the double-check response feature that checks whether there is information across the web to establish fact-based answers. This helps teens develop information literacy and critical thinking skills. The company claims that it worked with child development and safety experts before rolling out Google Bard for teens.
Google Bard is being marketed as a tool to solve problems, explore new hobbies, and find inspiration. For example, Google Bard can help explain complex topics to kids. It can help kids solve mathematical equations step-by-step with explanations. Bard can also create charts from tables or other data that is offered in prompts.