After its conference, Google is rolling out Gemini Live, the voice mode of its chatbot, thanks to which you can talk to artificial intelligence as if it were a human being. A sort of Siri boosted with AI!
At the Made By Google conference held on August 13, Google unveiled its new range of Pixel devices as well as its latest advances in artificial intelligence. After presenting, with varying degrees of success, the new functions of its Gemini mobile AI, the Internet giant put Gemini Live in the spotlight, a sort of Siri boosted by AI, which promises to make you speak with the personal assistant as if it were a human being. Initially presented last May, at Google I/O, it is a “mobile conversation experience that lets you have natural conversations with Gemini”the company said in a blog post. In concrete terms, you will be able to ask him questions on various subjects, discuss out loud with him and even interrupt him in the middle of his answer to explore a particular point in more depth, all while taking advantage of his advanced voice synthesis and great responsiveness.
Gemini Live: a personal voice assistant boosted by AI
The presentation of Gemini’s new features did not go smoothly. There was indeed a small glitch during the demonstration of the chatbot’s integration into the Tasks, Calendar and Keep applications. Then came Gemini Live’s turn. To demonstrate how it works, Jenny Blackburn, Google’s vice president of AI, asked her: “My niece and nephew are coming over this weekend, and I need some ideas for something fun and educational we could do together. I was thinking maybe a chemistry experiment, something a little magical.“The assistant suggests she make a homemade volcano, a fairly standard chemistry experiment, before asking if she would like to hear other suggestions, to which the Google executive responds in the affirmative. The AI then suggests she make a lava lamp with heat-reactive ink. While Jenny Blackburn wonders if the workshop will be too messy, Gemini explains that she will simply have to make sure to cover the work surface. Finally, the Google executive asks her for suggestions for names for this experiment, and the AI is quick to suggest “The Spy Training Academy” Or “The laboratory of secret messages”. In short, a real conversational assistant!
Google insists that you can interrupt Gemini Live in the middle of your response to redirect it or change the subject, or even pause the conversation. It is also possible to use the assistant in the background or with your smartphone locked, as would be the case for a call. In terms of the interface, no photos or text appear on the screen, so as not to disrupt the conversation.
To offer more customization to the user, Google offers no less than ten available voices, with different characteristics and a fairly natural grain. Three of them were presented during the conference, namely Vega, Dipper and Ursa. For the moment, Gemini Live is only available in English, and only for subscribers to Gemini Advanced – at 21.99 euros per month – on Android smartphones. The AI will be available in other languages and on iOS in the coming weeks.
The launch comes days after ChatGPT’s advanced voice feature was rolled out in beta. Available only to select ChatGPT Plus subscribers, it offers, according to OpenAI, “more natural and real-time conversations that can be interrupted at any time”The war therefore continues in earnest between the two companies, determined to win this race for artificial intelligence.