Google will let you switch back to what they’ve dubbed the ‘Classic Assistant’ over ‘Assistant with Bard’ when the AI assistant rolls out. The company announced the new assistant during the Google Pixel 8 launch that recently took place back in early October. But new findings show that despite the exciting possibilities an AI-powered assistant may present, Google understands some people might want to opt out of the experience.
Assistant with Bard will surpass Google Assistant
Mobile assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, and Bixby have been steadily improving over the years. Despite this, all of them have still left a lot to be desired. The sudden advancement of generative AI was reason for enthusiasts to be excited for mobile assistants once more. Google promises that Bard’s “generative reasoning capabilities” will revolutionize how people use Google Assistant.
‘Assistant with Bard’, as Google calls it, will be able to understand users a lot better than classic assistant. It will also be able to execute a lot more complex commands that classic assistant would have failed at. This is in part thanks to better speech-to-text capabilities of Large Language Models. Assistant with Bard will also be able to integrate with existing Google services like Gmail and Google Drive.
Why people might use Classic Assistant
Assistant with Bard sounds like a dream come true for most people. It might be the J.A.R.V.I.S users have wanted for so long. However, Google believes that some people would still prefer to use Classic Assistant over Bard. There are two main reasons why this might be.
For starters, Google has already announced that Assistant with Bard will not have all the capabilities of Classic Assistant during its initial rollout. This is most likely the primary reason people would want to switch between the two. According to AssembleDebug on X, who broke this news (via Android Police), users will reportedly be able to switch between both assistants from the Google app. Naturally, the need for this constant switching is likely to be phased out with future updates as Bard is improved.
The second reason people might want to use Classic Assistant instead is force of habit. As with all advancements in the tech sphere, some people might find the upgrade too jarring. These users will want to stick with what they know works. Google might eventually phase both assistant experiences together in the future to appeal to both classes of users.
Assistant with Bard is expected to roll out in the coming few months. For enthusiasts, this is going to be a fascinating change. And even the average consumer is going to notice just how much better their assistant has suddenly become. Google has made the first move, and other companies are sure to follow suit with their own AI assistants in the coming months.