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Google Assistant as we knew it is on the way out . Well , at least its backbone .
Late last year , GoogleaddedAI capabilities from its chatbotBardto Google Assistant , allowing the practical assistant to make common sense of images and imbibe on data point in electronic mail , papers and more . Now , the caller ’s give users the choice of replacing the AI model driving Google Assistant ’s colloquial skills with Gemini , Google ’s family line of fresh GenAI tech .
Soon , via a new Gemini app for Android devices ( which put back the survive Google Assistant app ) and an update Google app on iOS ( correct to roll out in the coming weeks ) , user will be able to access a new Gemini - power Google Assistant experience . It ’ll be peregrine - only ; Google Assistant devices like Nest and Home speakers and displays wo n’t see changes just yet .
The experience comes in the form of an overlayer that acts as a front oddment for the Gemini models and leave contextual recommendation and suggestions , Sissie Hsiao , Google Assistant VP , recount TechCrunch in a press briefing .
“ This overlay allows you to do some really interesting thing with Gemini , ” she say . “ For instance , you may get a caption based on a ikon that you ’ve already drive that ’s behind the overlay . You might be take an clause , and bringing up the overlayer allows you to not only understand the clause more deeply , but ask questions about the clause that you ’re reading now . ”
Indeed , the Gemini - power Assistant — which , depending on the machine , can be summons with a corner swipe , power button rap or “ Hey Google ” hotword — can accept figure as well as text edition and vocalization mastery . For example , you may upload a picture of a plant with the instruction “ I just buy this plant — give me tips and YouTube videos to assist me take maintenance of it ” and the Gemini - powered Assistant will do its best to satisfy the request .
If you ’ve ever judge a Gemini model on the webviaBard , you ’re probably aware that Gemini ’s capable of a range of GenAI task — and that ’s not modify with the Assistant integration . Google give a few instance prompts in the onboarding stream , like “ Help me craft a text reply to my admirer who is stress at body of work , ” “ Give me some ideas to storm my concert - loving Quaker on their birthday ” and “ Help me incorporate more industrial plant - free-base options in my diet . ” As on the connection , Gemini in Assistant can also create images , although it ’s not clear which model ’s doing the generating ; Bard antecedently tappedImagen 2for this aim .
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As you ’d require , conversations with the Gemini - power Assistant on mobile will channel over to Gemini - powered experiences on the web — and vice versa — if you ’re signed into the same Google Account in both places .
If for whatever reason the Gemini - powered Assistant experience is n’t to your liking , a menu screen in the Assistant app on Android and Google app on iOS Army of the Righteous you shift back to the onetime model at any time .
Now , the Gemini models are n’t completely replacing the erstwhile model underpinning Google Assistant — at least not at this juncture . Features include prompt phrases , which let you skip say “ Hey Google ” for specific task , will continue using the old poser . So will feature film relating to setting timekeeper , make calls and operate smart home devices . In accession , Google notes on the aforementioned preferences menu that , even when the Gemini models are selected as the default models in Assistant , apps with Assistant integration like Google Maps may keep using the old models .
In a move that might irk some longtime Google Assistant user , the most equal to of the Gemini models , Gemini Ultra , is n’t available to power Assistant for free . It and the capabilities it brings , like better logical thinking , code and instruction - following skills , are gate behind a new merchandise , Gemini Advanced , that ’s part of a new subscription , the Google One AI Premium Plan , priced at $ 20 per calendar month . The costless Gemini - powered Assistant leverages the less - capable Gemini Pro , which got a middling reception when itlaunchedin Bard in December .
Google launches Gemini Ultra , its most powerful LLM yet
Google ’s positioning the Google One AI Premium Plan — an expansion of its existingGoogle Oneprogram , initially available with a two - calendar month loose tryout — as the only manner to get at its latest and greatest GenAI have through Assistant , in fact . Users will have to observe a subscription to get future Gemini Ultra update include spread out multimodal capabilities , more synergistic coding feature article and deeper information analysis capabilities .
To dulcify the kitty , the AI Premium Plan do with 2 TB of storage and , in the near future , Gemini - power features in Gmail , Google Docs , Google Slides , Google Sheets and more . But I wonder whether that ’ll be enough to pacify Google Assistant exploiter who perceive the AI Premium Plan as an endeavor to buck for mannikin update that were previously free .
The new Gemini - power Assistant is available in English set about today in the U.S. It ’ll do to more locations — and Japanese and Korean — protrude next calendar week .
