While ChatGPT is rolling out enhanced voice mode to some users this month and Apple is close to launching Apple Intelligence, Google has hit back with Gemini Live, a version of the Gemini AI that lets you talk to it on your phone as if it were a real person. Gemini Live is currently only available to Gemini Advanced customers as part of the AI Premium plan for $20 (£18.99, AU$30) a month, but should be available to all subscribers with a compatible phone, not just those with a shiny new Google Pixel 9 that the search giant just launched.
My first impression is that Gemini Live is really impressive in action. I can finally chat with my phone as if it were a real person. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since voice assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa came along. Unfortunately, for the past few years I’ve been limited to using Siri and Alexa to set timers on my phone or play music, as their usefulness is limited and they usually direct me to a web page if I ask something too complicated. In contrast, with Gemini Live I can have a conversation about pretty much anything and it will give me a meaningful answer. It understands my words and intentions on a whole new level. Ask Gemini how the U.S. did at the last Paris Olympics, and it will respond with a real answer. Ask it to recommend a diet plan, and it will give me some ideas based on what it knows about me.
Of course, I could already talk to Gemini on an Android phone and ask it simple math questions or ask it about the weather, but the new Gemini Live is a whole new caliber. With Gemini Live, I can have a real conversation about complex topics, ask it to brainstorm or ask for advice. To make the conversation really realistic, I can also interrupt its answers. So if I find the answer I’m getting is just taking too long, I can interrupt Gemini and ask it something else. It feels a bit rude, but machines don’t have feelings, right? I don’t have to press anything on the screen to talk to Gemini either, so it’s a completely hands-free experience, meaning I can use it while doing other tasks.
Gemini Live is also multimodal, so it can “look at” images or videos on your phone and answer questions about them. This can be particularly useful if I want to take a photo of something and then ask Gemini Live a question about it. It intelligently takes information from the photos and uses that to answer it. Despite some hiccups in the live demo at the recent Made for Google event, this is really useful.
Google is still adding new features to Gemini (and presumably will continue to do so), and “in the coming weeks” extensions will be added that will make it really useful and allow Gemini to integrate with various apps like Calendar and Gmail. So you can say things like “Look for the specs James emailed me a few weeks ago” and Gemini Live will be able to do that. This feature could turn out to be a surprise hit for Gemini Live.
All in all, Gemini Live is the best use of AI I’ve seen from Google to date. Google has spent a lot of time and money integrating AI into its search pages with AI Overview, which is not something I want. I don’t want AI taking over my searches and getting in the way with unhelpful answers when all I want is to be directed to a web page. AI can still provide false facts, and Gemini is no different in that regard. I just want AI to help me in my life, and while there’s a lot to come that will take Gemini Live to a whole new level, for now I can say goodbye to Google Assistant and have a real conversation with my phone, and that’s pretty amazing.
