The AI-powered Code Generator and Editor in Google's Bard Chatbot

Highlights

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• Google's experimental chatbot Bard now has a coding feature that can generate and modify source code based on natural language prompts.
• The coding feature is powered by a large language model (LLM) based on LaMDA, which can handle open-ended conversations on any topic.
• The feature is currently only available to Google employees, who are testing its usefulness and accuracy.
• Google is also working on ways to ensure the quality and reliability of Bard's responses, such as providing multiple drafts for the user to choose from and allowing follow-up questions.
• The motivation for adding the coding feature to Bard may be driven by competition from similar products like GitHub Copilot, developed by Microsoft in the partnership with OpenAI.
• Google is confident in the potential of Bard to boost productivity and fuel curiosity, and plans to make the coding feature available to the public in the future.

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Google is testing a new feature for its experimental chatbot Bard that could make it a powerful tool for programmers. The feature, which is currently available only to Google employees, allows Bard to generate and modify source code based on natural language prompts.

According to a report from business insider, Google is asking its employees to try out the coding feature and provide feedback on its usefulness and accuracy. It also suggests some possible use cases for the feature, such as creating a web app, fixing a bug, or adding a new functionality.

The coding feature is powered by a large language model (LLM), a type of artificial intelligence that can generate text based on a given input. Google's LLM is based on LaMDA, a system that can handle open-ended conversations on any topic. Google claims that LaMDA can produce natural and coherent responses that are relevant to the context and the user's intent.

However, LLMs are not perfect and can sometimes produce inaccurate, misleading, or biased outputs. Therefore, Google is also working on ways to ensure the quality and reliability of Bard's responses, such as providing multiple drafts for the user to choose from, allowing the user to ask follow-up questions, and integrating Search into Bard's interface.

Google's motivation for adding the coding feature to Bard may be driven by the competition from other products that offer similar capabilities. One of them is GitHub Copilot, a programming assistant developed by Microsoft and OpenAI that can suggest code snippets based on natural language descriptions. GitHub Copilot was launched in June 2021 and has received mixed reviews from developers. Recently Microsoft launched the GitHub Copilot X based on OpenAI's GPT-4 language model which has received excellent reviews from developers.

Google has not announced when it plans to make Bard's coding feature available to the public, but it seems to be confident in its potential. According to Google, Bard is "a new way to collaborate with generative AI" and that it can "boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity".