Of the recent advancements in artificial intelligence, Google Gemini Live might rank as one of the most innovative. Using nothing but your phone, you can engage with the world in countless ways.
Similar to how Google Lens allows us to see a translation in real-time, Gemini Live opens up a world of possibility — to learn about bike maintenance, ask about the clouds in the sky and if it might rain, and even cheat at board games.
Here are the craziest and most impressive things you can do with Gemini Live, along with some tips on getting the most out of the bot during these interactions.
Cheat at board games
We’ll call this one cheating, although it’s one of the coolest things you can do with Gemini Live.
When you point your camera at your own tiles in Scrabble, for example, the bot will suggest words you can use. In one test shown in the screenshot, Gemini suggested using the word “deck” for 24 points.
The caveat here is that Gemini Live struggles a bit when it comes to valid words — in my tests, the words were a little unusual and in some cases not in the official Scrabble dictionary. I wanted the bot to suggest words that had higher scores, too. You might try some coaching, asking for more common words or to use the double-word score.
Learn how to use a thermostat
In the modern connected home, we have gadgets for just about everything, but even adjusting the temperature can be a challenge.
With Gemini Live, you can point your camera at a thermostat and ask how to adjust the settings. Sometimes, Gemini might need you to focus on the name of the device, but in most cases, it knows the product just by the shape and color.
I even tried asking Gemini about something called a Dehumidistat. Gemini explained that you can set the humidity level to the desired level — the Dehumidistat controls the air ventilation system in my home.
The bot told me I can use a weather app to check the current humidity level, and then set the humidity to a lower level — such as 50% — to keep things less humid.
Ask how to fix a broken bike chain
Gemini can also give you more complex instructions in real-time. Let’s say the chain on a bike is a bit rusty (see screenshot).
Gemini can give you some tips on applying some lubricant to the chain, but you can go much further than that. If your chain is broken, Gemini can provide detailed tips about how to connect the “rivets” (the small connectors on the chain) which usually requires something called a Master Link Pliers.
Interestingly, you can also ask Gemini which tool to use to repair the rivets and then even where to buy a product like that.
Summarize a book
This one is really useful at the library or a bookstore.
You can pull out your phone, fire up Gemini Live, and point your camera at any book cover. Then, ask the bot to summarize the book. I tested this with even a few brand new books including one called Every Living Thing (about the history of naming plants and animals).
Gemini gave a general summary about the book, but then I asked for more details and if the book was worth purchasing. You can even converse about the book, asking about the author, where to buy it, and about similar books.
Ask about chemical compounds in common drinks
This one was quite fascinating to me. I asked Gemini about the chemical compound of the liquid in my cup. Gemini first noted that my cup had a baby photo and contained coffee; both were correct.
But then I asked about the chemical compound of coffee. I expected to hear mostly about caffeine, but the bot proceeded to explain how “melanoidins” form during roasting to give coffee a dark tone and how “trigonelline” is an alkaloid that creates the distinct aroma. I did the same with milk and a cup of root beer — the answers were more scientific than I expected.
Read handwritten notes aloud
This one is a great party trick because Gemini can read just about anything.
I asked the bot to read a handwritten note from one of my grandkids and listened as Gemini read the whole thing. But it started to get even more interesting.
Taking a journal which had complex notes about a gadget I’m testing — including the size, weight, and other specs — Gemini read everything perfectly and even guessed which gadget it was (correctly).
Then, I tried writing some of this article by hand in the journal and asked Gemini to read portions aloud to see if the writing was clear. It turns out Gemini Live is a great editor and proofreader.
Find out if it looks like rain is in the forecast
I had fun with this one. Gemini Live can tell you which clouds are in the sky based on their shape. Pointing the camera out of my office window, Gemini correctly explained that the clouds were cumulus and that the weather looked “fair” without a chance of rain.
It turns out that Gemini is not a bad meteorologist. Weather forecasters know that cumulus cloud rarely contain rain and are a prime indication that it’s likely going to remain at least partly sunny.
More from Tom's Guide
- People are using Google Gemini for workouts — I’m a personal trainer, and here’s what happened when I tried it
- AI was given a 9-5 job for a month as an experiment and it failed miserably — here's what happened
- I just tried the emotionally intelligent chatbot that's trying to pull you away from ChatGPT
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