Summary
The announcement of Google’s Gemini AI software and the rebranding of Bard as Gemini have dominated headlines for the last several weeks. You can quickly and easily access Gemini on your phone with the Gemini app. Actually, your phone’s default smart assistant will switch from Google Assistant to Google Gemini as soon as you install the Gemini app. The issue is, should you really use Google Gemini in lieu of Google Assistant, even if you can?
Gemini provides contextual awareness among other things.
many options
A lot of people, like me, are apprehensive about switching to Gemini. According to Google’s statement, Gemini can do many of the same tasks as Assistant, and in some cases, even outperforms it. Google says that you may benefit from Gemini in the following ways:
Having a discussion might help you learn more in-depth information about a subject than reading through publications.
- Take a picture using your camera and make inquiries about what you are now seeing.
- Verify your text for grammatical and spelling errors and get it translated.
- Assist in locating an activity and discover its location.
- Make a subject summary using a number of different forms, including a table or list.
- To find information in an email, such as travel information or the estimated arrival time of a product, search Gmail.
- Make a trip schedule that includes lodging, flights, and an itinerary.
- Pose inquiries about the information shown on your screen.
- To activate an object, such turning on a smart light or setting a timer, use voice commands.
While Google Assistant can do many of these activities, Gemini elevates them to a new level. Gemini can assist you with planning a whole vacation, whereas Google Assistant can just provide flights. When you ask questions, Gemini may often respond to you more intelligently than Google Assistant. Gemini will cover a large portion of the inquiries that would have resulted in a “I don’t know, but I found these results on Search” response from Google Assistant.
Additionally, using Gemini’s AI intelligence is necessary to do some of these activities, such creating summaries. Users will get certain advantages when access to a range of Google services is combined with AI intelligence. For example, Gemini may now use an email from Gmail to inform you when an item will arrive. This is the type of intelligence that Google Assistant ought to have had from the beginning.
Where Gemini falls short: A few features are missing.
It’s not yet a drop-in substitute.
There are several disadvantages to take into account, even if these attributes all could seem to be net positives. In reality, a large portion of the work Gemini completes on your behalf is channeled via Google Assistant. Google Assistant will use Gemini to do these tasks:
- Set an alarm or create a timer.
- Use text messaging or your phone to communicate.
- You can use your Android phone to control things like turning on your flashlight or launching an app.
- Manage and distribute to your smart home appliances.
- Get assistance with your Pixel on a Pixel 8 or later, or read a webpage aloud.
- One new feature that was included is the ability to set reminders.
Google Assistant is now doing these chores because, according to Google, Gemini is “still learning” how to accomplish them. According to Taylor Kerns’s hands-on experience with Gemini for Android Police, this indicates that Gemini is no more efficient than Google Assistant for certain activities and may even take longer.
When Taylor first saw that Gemini was taking a long time to do a lot of these activities, it was probably because it was processing the request and forwarding it to Google Assistant. These capabilities seem to function rather similarly to Google Assistant now that I’ve tested them. Gemini is noticeably faster now than it was even a few weeks ago, regardless of whether Google is increasing its responsiveness or whether user demand has leveled out and lessened server load since the service’s inception.Additionally, Gemini is unable to do a few actions that are essential for certain individuals to utilize their virtual assistant:
- Audio controls for radio, music, spoken news, and podcasts.
- routines, particularly ones that include an alarm.
- Use the interpreter mode to facilitate communication with others.
- I think that some of these features are really crucial for users. Controlling media is one of the primary
- reasons I use Google Assistant, because Gemini isn’t capable of doing that. Once again, while it’s not
- available currently, this feature is supposedly coming to Gemini in the future.
Is it time to become a Gemini?
It’s unlikely that Gemini can replace Assistant just now.
In the end, your individual use case will determine whether or not switching to Gemini makes sense. It definitely makes sense to switch if you’re enthusiastic about AI, want to take full use of its advantages, and don’t give a damn about reminders or media restrictions. For now, Google Assistant is definitely the best option if you rely on it for music controls, reminders, or fast texting and smart home device modifications. It also makes sense to continue using Google Assistant for the time being if you want assistant continuity.
Gemini is only compatible with Android phones; it is not yet accessible on smartwatches, smart speakers, smart displays, headphones, or other devices. Although Gemini isn’t available today, it could make its way to other devices soon, so you might get different responses from your smart speaker and your phone. Furthermore, a lot of people are worried about whether AI would confidently lie to consumers and if it will correctly credit its sources.I’m going to hold off on switching, myself.
I use my smartphone every day for essential things, such media controls, which Gemini does not provide. Making the move won’t really affect anything since other chores, including sending texts, managing my smart home appliances, and creating reminders, are already handled by Google Assistant. There isn’t a strong enough argument for me to switch because of these significant caveats. While I hope these features are introduced in the future, I’m content to remain pat for the time being.
