About That ‘A.I. Upgrade’ ⇥ semafor.com

Reed Albergotti, Semafor:

Google’s Android phones are about to get an AI upgrade.

The company’s flagship AI model, Gemini, will replace Google Assistant as the default service on Android phones in the coming weeks, the company announced Tuesday.

Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal:

When I asked it to set a timer, it said it couldn’t do that — or set an alarm — “yet.” Gemini Live is a big step forward conversationally. But functionally, it’s a step back in some ways. One big reason: Gemini Live works entirely in the cloud, not locally on a device. Google says it’s working on ways for the new assistant to control phone functions and other Google apps.

This is nitpicking, I know, but I have to wonder about the disconnect between what executives believe is an improvement compared to how people actually use their phones. Maybe I have been ruined by Siri’s inability to do much else reliably, but setting timers and alarms is a core function of a voice-controlled software assistant for me. Google’s live, conversational assistant is remarkable, to be sure. Yet I am not sure I would consider it an “upgrade” if it no longer supports the feature I use most.