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Google has unveiled a new creation that mixes the power of its  Google Assistant and generative AI chatbot Bard. According to the search giant, the app will be available to iOS and Android users in the coming months.

“Today at Made by Google, we introduced Assistant with Bard, a personal assistant powered by generative AI,” wrote Sissie Hsiao, Vice President at Google and General Manager for Google Assistant and Bard. “It combines Bard’s generative and reasoning capabilities with Assistant’s personalized help. You can interact with it through text, voice or images — and it can even help take actions for you.”

The idea is to create a better virtual assistant that can respond to commands efficiently using generative AI technology. According to Google, the app will be integrated with its earlier creations, including Docs and Gmail. For the latter, the giant described a capability that will allow users to ask the bot to access their emails, answer queries, and even update them on the things they’ve missed. Despite that capability, Google stressed that privacy will still be observed in the new app. 

Of course, and as expected, Android devices will benefit more with the new app. “On Android devices, we’re working to build a more contextually helpful experience right on your phone,” Hsiao added. “For example, say you just took a photo of your cute puppy you’d like to post to social media. Simply float the Assistant with Bard overlay on top of your photo and ask it to write a social post for you. Assistant with Bard will use the image as a visual cue, understand the context and help with what you need. This conversational overlay is a completely new way to interact with your phone.”

The announcement of the new app is part of Google’s AI initiatives as it continues to fight other companies hoping to master the technology. Aside from Microsoft and OpenAI, Apple will also soon rise as one of Google’s biggest rivals in the generative AI market. Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company plans to hire more talent to work on its AI projects, which should result in more AI-powered apps and features on Apple devices in the future.