Your Google Assistant is Now Stupid. You’re Not Imagining It.

Photo from Ron Schmelzer on Forbes.com.

If you feel like your Google Home device or Assistant on your phone is less capable than it once was, you’re not imagining it. You’re probably frustrated with the more prevalent “Sorry, I didn’t understand” response to simple questions. It just doesn’t give you useful information like it used to. Well, blame Gemini.

Assistant Phase Out

In a Google blog post, the tech company announced the end of Google Assistant. According to the Android Police, by the end of 2025, Google Assistant will be phased out on Android devices in favor of Gemini, Google’s generative AI model. Its functionality will be integrated into Gemini. This change isn’t limited to Android devices.

“Cars, headphones, and smartwatches will all switch over to Gemini at a later date,” says the Android police. The switch for Google Home and Nest devices will be a bit more complicated.

Google Home and Nest devices are heavily integrated into various third-party products. The shift to Gemini will require massive collaboration and timeliness. The change will happen nonetheless. The problem seems to be Gemini’s flaws.

The Problems with Gemini

Gemini notably struggles with basic tasks. As an example, the AndroidPolice.com notes, “… ask Gemini to set a timer for boiling your pasta, and it may tell you how to set a timer instead. Basic instructions like ‘set a timer for ten minutes’ seem to confuse Gemini, whereas Google Assistant excels at these simple tasks.” Gemini also hallucinates.

Although all generative Ai models hallucinate to some degree, some users say Gemini does this the most. There have been claims it invents people and things regularly. This makes it less reliable for information than Google Assistant which generally does not answer a question it does not have an answer to.

Because of those flaws and others, Gemini is not ready to replace Google Home and Nest devices. For the time being, Google Assistant is more reliable. It provides more accurate information and already works with the aforementioned devices.

The Takeaway

Yes. Your Google Home device is less functional. This is because it relies on Google Assistant which Google is phasing out in favor of Gemini, its generative Ai. However, the transition for Google Home and Nest devices is more complicated. Gemini hallucinates to a level that makes it unreliable. It struggles with basic tasks Google Assistant excels at. The switch to Gemini is inevitable though. Great results are not. Google Assistant came to us in 2016. For those of us who have had our Google Homes since their inception, the end of Google Assistant feels like the end of an all-too-brief era. It’s simply just the beginning of another.

This article was written by Jermaine Reed, MFA, the Editor-in-Chief of The Reeders Block. Join the email list to get notifications on new blog posts and books. This article is 100% human-written. And remember, if you see an error, that’s what makes us human.