• Google is rolling out new coding features to an internal version of its Bard AI chatbot.
  • Staff can ask Bard to generate, fix, and explain code.
  • Some of the features appear to be rolling out publicly, too.

Google is asking staff to test new coding features for its chatbot Bard as it prepares to make the features publicly available, according to an internal email sent Friday. 

The company told staff on Friday they could test out new features that let Bard generate and fix code, turning the chatbot into a programming assistant. It also asked staff to provide feedback, according to a copy of the email reviewed by Insider. These new features show Google is moving to catch competitors like Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, which also functions like a coding assistant (and was recently updated to integrate a ChatGPT-like assistant).

"You can now test out new features like source code completions, explanations, bug fixing, and more in Bard!" read the the memo, which was sent by Paige Bailey, a product manager on Google's generative AI work.

The memo offered some examples for staff to try:

  • "Ask Bard to generate code (e.g. 'write a linear regression model in Python.')"
  • "Ask Bard to explain a code snippet line-by-line."
  • "Share a code snippet, and ask Bard to write documentation for it."
  • "Copy code snippets to your clipboard using the 'Copy' button."

A Google spokesperson said the company was iterating on coding capabilities and that these features are not officially supported yet.

"Testing and feedback, from Googlers and external trusted testers, are important aspects of improving Bard to ensure it's ready for our users. We often seek input from Googlers to help make our products better, and it's an important part of our internal culture," the spokesperson told Insider in a statement.

The email asked staff to test the new features for their "software development use cases," but it warned that code generated by Bard "should not be used in production."

It also told employees not to submit "confidential, need-to-know, privileged or sensitive information" into Bard. Those who do want to use sensitive information should use what appears to be a different internal chatbot referred to as "Duckie," the memo said.

Some of these new features appear to work in the public version of Bard, according to tests run by Insider. The Bard FAQ still states that it "can't help you with coding just now," although Insider was able to get Bard to generate and explain code when asked.

The company previously asked staff to dedicate two to four hours testing Bard before its public release, Insider first reported.

ChatGPT, OpenAI's Bard competitor, is already able to generate code and write documentation for it. On the public release of Bard, Google said these features would come to its chatbot too. CEO Sundar Pichai recently reiterated that point, and it looks like these tools are starting to roll out.