What started with AI chatbots will inevitably snowball into advanced AI assistants, This is why we're closer than ever to doing away with familiar voices such as Siri and Google Assistant — and why Microsoft has already put Cortana out to pasture.
However, Tuesday saw Google signal what might be the beginning of the end for its long-time virtual Android aide, announcing that Google Gemini would replace Google Assistant by default on phones going forward.
However, while those picking up one of Google's latest Pixel 9-series smartphones will be granted a year of free access to Gemini Advanced (and the Gemini Live feature), other Android users will need to sign up for a more costly Google One plan to access the company's next-gen chat mode for the Gemini chatbot.
To which I have to ask: Is it actually worth it?
"For a good time, subscribe to Gemini Live"
Look around the internet for even the briefest moment and you'll be greeted by many a report of the Gemini Live experience, and for the most part that coverage will be quite positive.
And why shouldn't it be highlighted as such? Gemini Live, much like ChatGPT's advanced Voice Mode, is a breakthrough moment for human-computer interfaces that sees these natural language models adopt natural speech patterns that deliver the most human-like responses to date.
However, join me in momentarily peeking behind the curtain (as majestic as it may be) and it becomes apparent that these impressive voice modes are little more than safe-for-work chatbot chatlines. In decades gone, they'd be services offering little difference to the seedy calling cards found within public payphones. "For a good time, subscribe to Gemini Live."
However, instead of sparking conversation with avatars of lust at per-minute pricing, you're paying a premium to talk with the world's fastest Googlers (or 'Bingers' in the case of ChatGPT). It's no small premium either. Access to Gemini Live is shielded behind the $19 monthly paywall of Google One's Gemini Advanced tier.
For that much, it'd better have something impressive to offer ahead of Google's default assistant for Android, but does it?
Is Gemini Live better than Google Assistant?
Gemini Live might be brilliant, but is it better than Android's already well-established auxiliary, Google Assistant? Well, Gemini Live definitely has more personality than Android's default assistant, but it's lacking in a few key areas of functionality.
One area is your ability to take notes or build lists on the fly. Google Assistant will happily link up with Google Keep to ensure all of your notes are securely stored. Gemini Advanced. and in turn Gemini Live, fails to do so, either handing you a reply that is formatted like a list or claiming it can't take notes as a language model.
Ask Gemini Live to bring up your favorite TV show or podcast and you'll similarly be met with a wall of text telling you how you can watch these shows or a list of YouTube results that match your request as close as possible. On the other hand, Google Assistant will simply bring up the podcast in your app of choice.
I encountered similar results when asking Gemini to filter through and find a particular saved picture of mine. While Google Assistant will launch Photos and attempt to find you the images you're looking for, Gemini will simply shrug off your request as something beyond its limitations.
Gemini has some way to go before snugly slipping into the shoes of Google Assistant — which makes its default adoption for newer Pixel phones all the more jarring. I can only assume that Google is seeking to rapidly patch its next-gen offering or provide enough extensions to deliver similar results.
However, until then, I wouldn't recommend anybody break into a sprint for the Google One dashboard and sign themselves up for Gemini Advanced any time soon. In fact, I'm not even certain any of the current AI chatbot heavyweights are worth their ~$20 per month premium tiers — for most people, anyway.
Outlook
Google and OpenAI seem to be targeting the ~$20 monthly subscription to host their latest AI voice models for public consumption, though their free versions offer very similar functionality that most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference from beyond the new text-to-speech features.
That's not to say there aren't many benefits to these higher tiers of AI access. Subscriptions like Gemini Advances and ChatGPT Plus offer access to the fastest and latest versions of each company's AI models, and often a host of expanded functions and extras like image generation or Google's offer of 2TB of cloud storage.
As impressive as they might be, you should ask yourself what you might need to use services like this before you sign up for them. All that glitters isn't gold, after all.
Having to fork over a monthly stipend for a service you're unlikely to gain from beyond the subtle buzz of a more fleshed-out conversational tone for your smartphone's assistant might not be the most compelling way to blow $20 a month. But that's not to say it isn't a cool way to do it, either.
The majority of Android users will probably be better off sticking with Google Assistant for now. Though once Google has fully converted its AI to cover everything its current assistant can, it makes little sense to hold out. Still, the free version of Gemini will be more than enough for most. So don't feel compelled to upsell yourself over a fancier set of voices.
If you're desperate to experience Google's Gemini in all its talkative glory, then you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Gemini Advanced through Google One.
Gemini Live is rolling out to English-speaking Gemini Advanced subscribers on Android, with iOS and additional languages expected to receive the feature over the coming weeks.
