Subj : Google Gemini update makes asking the AI for assistance feel more To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Wed Feb 05 2025 13:15:07 Google Gemini update makes asking the AI for assistance feel more like phoning a friend Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:02:17 +0000 Description: Google is making some Gemini Live notifications look like phone calls. FULL STORY ======================================================================Gemini notifications now look like phone calls on some phones This should make it easier to tell when Gemini is Live Could be an early roll.out of a feature or an A/B test Last week Googles Gemini Live service received its 'Talk Live about this' update, which allows the AI to have a real-time chat with you about the images, files, and YouTube videos showing on your devices screen. Now it appears that Google is making a subtle tweak to the services notification to make it look more like youre phoning a friend than chatting with a robot. Usually when youre in a Live chat with Gemini and not in the app, the only on-screen sign is a small notification symbol at the top of the screen, and a message in your notification centre that your mic is on and Gemini can hear and respond to you. Now, as spotted by 9to5Google , some Pixel smartphones are instead showing this notification as if it were a phone call with a more obvious on screen chip saying youre live with Gemini , and the option to Hang Up or put Gemini on Hold. While this change does seem to offer some user-friendly advantages more on that below we cant help but feel that this is a not-so-subtle trick from Google to make Gemini feel more like a friend youre calling rather than some ethereal, impersonal AI. We should note that most people still arent seeing the style change. This means it could have been rolled out by accident to a select few, or is still in the A/B testing stage. We havent been able to see call-style notifications on any of our devices, with 9to5Google saying it appeared on one Pixel 9 Pro running Google app beta version 16.4 which suggests this may not yet be a change that's ready for the mass market. Phone an AI friend (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future) We hope this notification change does make it to more devices, as one major advantage is that it serves as a more constant reminder that Gemini is listening in. The previous notification was more hidden, so it was easy to forget that you were still in a live chat with Gemini even though you'd left the app (until it responded seemingly out of nowhere). Now theres a constant obvious on-screen reminder that the AI is still on the other end of the line with an easy option to either leave the conversation by hanging up, or, if you just want to pause the conversation, put the AI on hold (I wonder what Geminis preferred choice of hold music would be?). This privacy awareness will be particularly useful as Gemini grows its ability to respond to on-screen stimulus. Currently, its more limited feature set means there's not too much reason to leave it running in the background so you can just end the conversation before leaving the app. But as Gemini gets better at helping you understand a recipe youre reading, or summarizing a complex science video, or performing some other trick which relies on it seeing a different app on your screen, itll likely be a lot easier to forget to turn the AI off when youre finished using it. At least that would be the case with the old-style of notification, and turning the conversation into a call should be a lot more obvious although well have to wait and see when or even if this style tweak will be rolled out more widely at some point in the future. You may also like The top 5 ways you can use Google Gemini to be more creative Google says Gemini is being misused to launch major cyberattacks Gemini AI can see and talk to you about what's on your screen ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/android/google-gemini-update-makes-asking-the -ai-for-assistance-feel-more-like-phoning-a-friend --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .