The Samsung Galaxy S24's Chat Assist is one of the phone's many impressive AI features. However, as 9to5Google found in an APK file of the beta version of the new Google Messages app, Google is developing a similar tool called Google Bard for Messages.

According to screenshots captured from the Messages beta, you can open and return chats with Google Bard (or "Penpal" as it was codenamed in the beta).

Bard can do more than just help you write messages to other (real) contacts. Suggestions found by 9to5Google include identifying images, recommending books, creating riddles, and suggesting recipes based on the ingredients you give.

An important point to note is that messages with Bard are not encrypted end-to-end.

If you have been paying attention to cell phone news lately, you may have noticed that Messages with Bard is similar to Samsung's Chat Assist feature on the Galaxy S24.

Chat Assist can be used for one of two purposes: translating text or fine-tuning the tone and grammar of a sentence to make it suitable for a particular purpose. since it can be used anywhere you write with the Galaxy S24's built-in keyboard app, Bard allows you to use Messages Bard does not require copy/paste or sharing of AI-generated text, as is the case with Messages. However, Bard is a full-fledged AI chatbot and as a result can do much more than Chat Assist.

Samsung also processes (but does not store) information when you use its style and grammar tools to adjust the tone of your writing or check that you have written something correctly. However, because the translation takes place on the device, it is more secure.

Both Samsung's and Google's tools seem to have their own use cases, if you have a Galaxy S24 and are using a future version of Google Messages that offers bard integration over Samsung's own messaging app, It seems possible to use them together. But the timing of Google's AI messaging coming out at the same time as Samsung's new AI-focused phone is hardly a total coincidence. This is good news for anyone looking to buy the best non-Samsung Android phone.

Chat Assist will arrive on January 31 along with the Galaxy S24 series (although pre-orders for the Galaxy S24 have already begun). If this beta test goes well, though, it should be available within a month or two.