As Gemini Live gets unveiled, Adarsh gives you a rundown on Google’s all new voice-based AI assistant…
As Google themselves put it, we’re in the Gemini era now. Designed as a response to ChatGPT, Gemini is a family of AI models and now at long last, they have launched the audio extension of Gemini, called Gemini Live.
Google claims that it is “like having a sidekick in your pocket” as you can talk to Gemini like it were a human being. You can even interrupt it mid-conversation!
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, is very excited about the launch: “I believe the transition we are seeing right now with AI will be the most profound in our lifetimes, far bigger than the shift to mobile or to the web before it. AI has the potential to create opportunities — from the everyday to the extraordinary — for people everywhere.”
How you can use Gemini Live
The coolest feature about Gemini Live is that it integrates with all the Google apps and tools that you use today. And unlike ChatGPT, you can use Gemini without having to switch between apps and services. All Google extensions like Keep, Tasks and Utilities are compatible with Gemini and this lets you multitask like never before.
For instance, you can ask Gemini to search Google for a fish recipe. And then you can ask Gemini to save the ingredients to Keep. Or you could ask Gemini to find a travel video on YouTube and then ask Gemini to save all the restaurants mentioned in the video to your Google Maps.
It will soon be integrated with YouTube music and Calendars as well and this will unlock potential like never before. To give you an example of what’s in store, you can soon click a photo of an event announcement and ask Gemini to check your Calendar if you’re free on that day.
How to Access Gemini on your Phone
To access Gemini, you need to long press on the power button of your phone and say Hello Google. This will cause Gemini to appear. But bear in mind that some devices may have an alternative activation method which involves a corner swipe from the bottom of your screen. For this feature to work on your device, you may need to set up Hey Google.
What’s Different about Gemini
Since it is fully integrated into the Android user experience, it has more context-aware capabilities that are only available on Android.
Gemini 1.0 has been trained to recognize and understand text, images and audio, all at the same time which means that it will be very good at reasoning. In other words, if you said something like ‘Monkey Business’, it won’t just use the text to assume that you are talking about apes in suits.
This potential makes Gemini very good at complex reasoning and explaining subjects like math and physics.
It has 10 preset voices to choose from which means you can pick a tone and style that suits you. It also has a handsfree mode. So, you can talk to Gemini in the background or when the phone is locked and in your pocket. This allows conversations on the go so it feels just like a regular phone call.
Gemini continue to evolve in a bid to provide AI-powered mobile assistance while also remaining natural, conversational and intuitive.
Currently there is a free version available with limited capabilities but you can unlock full access with$19 per month for Gemini Advanced.
What the Future holds for Gemini
As of now, Gemini Live is audio-only. But multimodal capabilities are slated for later this year. Going forward, it will even have an AI view through your phone’s camera. In other words, you can ask Gemini Live questions about whatever it is looking at while you walk hands free with your phone in your shirt pocket.
As Google put it, we’re in the Gemini era now!
In case you missed:
- All You Need to Know about Gemini, Google’s Response to ChatGPT
- TalkBack, Circle To Search & 3 More Google Features added on Android
- 5 Free AI Assistants To Make Your Life Easier
- Meta AI launches on WhatsApp & Insta in India
- OpenAI finally unveils its Advanced Voice Assistant!
- Talk to ChatGPT with new AI Glasses
- Active Listening Feature on Phones raises Privacy Concerns
- Presenting Claude, ChatGPT’s Competitor which is apparently Better!
- Microsoft enhances AI Copilot with Voice, Vision & Deeper Thinking
- WhatsApp to Allow Cross-Functional Chatting Soon
