The launch today of Google’s latest AI play – personal assistant Gemini Live on Android phones – will allow users to “speak to it naturally the way you would with another person”, according to Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem.
“We’ve completely rebuilt the assistant experience with Gemini … It can understand your intent, follow your train of thought and complete complex tasks,” Samat said.
He said AI was being infused into “every layer of our full tech stack — from data centre infrastructure to the operating system to devices”.
Starting today, you can bring up Gemini’s overlay on top of the app you’re using to ask questions about what’s on your screen.
Samat gave an example: “You can find specific information about a YouTube video you’re watching. You can also generate images directly from the overlay and drag and drop them into apps like Gmail and Google Messages.”
Gemini Live claims to offer “a mobile conversational experience that lets you chat with Gemini about whatever’s on your mind. Ask complex questions, explore new ideas or even brainstorm potential jobs well-suited for your skillset or degree”.
Google said you can “interrupt mid-response to dive deeper on a particular point, or pause a conversation and come back to it later”.
The assistant is available hands-free, so you can continue talking to the Gemini Live app when your phone is locked. There are 10 new voices to choose from.
New extensions will be launched in coming weeks, including Keep, Tasks and Utilities, and expanded features on YouTube Music.
“Let’s say you’re hosting a dinner party: Have Gemini dig out that lasagna recipe Jenny sent you in your Gmail, and ask it to add the ingredients to your shopping list in Keep,” said Google by way of example.
“And since your guests are your college friends, ask Gemini to ‘make a playlist of songs that remind me of the late ‘90s’. Without needing too many details, Gemini gets the gist of what you want and delivers.”
That’s quite a lot of pressure to place on Gemini Live’s young shoulders.
What if it chooses, for example, these songs from the late 90s: Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’, Ronan Keating’s ‘When You Say Nothing At All’, Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’, Shania Twain’s ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, Elton John’s reheated ‘Candle In The Wind’ and Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’?
That’s one way to clear a room.
Gemini Live begins rolling out today in English to Gemini Advanced subscribers on Android phones, and in the coming weeks will expand to iOS and more languages.
