Google Gemini 2: Advancements in AI Image Generation and Multimodal Capabilities

Google Gemini is great for unique wallpapers: Here's to use it to make your own

What do you do when you have free access to cutting-edge AI with all-encompassing knowledge? You make some sweet AI wallpapers, of course! Jokes aside, there are many cool things Gemini can do on Android, and one of them is generating images. Sure, it's not the only AI with image-generating capabilities, but it's mostly free and produces some of the best results. Besides, you may already have it installed if you have one of the best Android phones. ✕ Remove Ads Why bother with Gemini when a bunch of great Android wallpaper apps are available for free from Google Play? Well, because with Gemini, you can create something truly unique, and the creation process can be lots of fun. And even though Android 14 introduced a built-in AI wallpaper feature, Gemini can generate a broader type of images. Here's how you do that. Related 7 things I learned from using AI-generated images for the first time What you may not know about AI image generators Posts How to generate images with Google Gemini The basics of requesting AI images ✕ Remove Ads Generating an image with Google Gemini is quite easy. Generating an image of something specific can be trickier, but knowing how to structure your prompt helps greatly. The prompt is the instruction you type into the Gemini app. It doesn't have to be super long, but giving Gemini more and clearer instructions tends to return better results. "Generate an image of..." is a good way to begin. Then comes the object or scene you want visualized and, if applicable, an action they're performing. After that, you may include details like colors, style, background, camera angle, and the year or historical period. You may also specify negative modifiers - things you don't want in the image. Trust Insights has a helpful in-depth guide on structuring prompts depending on which AI image generator is used. Here is the prompt I used to generate the image on the phone in the photo above: Generate an image of a snowy nature scenery with river flowing down the middle, pine tree forest, at sunset, in wintertime If you're not getting the result you expect, you may try rearranging your prompt or adding details for clarity and then requesting a new image. Tap on the image to download the full-resolution version. ✕ Remove Ads Generating wallpapers with Google Gemini: tips and tricks How to optimize prompts to make great wallpapers Close Even a visually pleasing image can be a bad wallpaper. You don't want to generate anything too busy or too bright as it can make app icons less discernible and text more difficult to read. That's why it's a good idea to include specific colors and their placement in your prompt. Specifying the time of day is also a reliable way of getting the desired color tones. You may add "bokeh" or "shallow focus" to blur a portion of the image. Example prompts: Generate an abstract image. Pattern of triangles, small and big. Top half is red, orange, yellow. Bottom half is black Generate an image of a fantasy castle on top of a steep, impenetrable mountain, with a red dragon circling above it, dark color tones, at night Generate an image of red wool fabric with yellow glitter, shallow focus, extreme close-up ✕ Remove Ads Dealing with Gemini's fixed aspect ratio Currently, Google Gemini can generate only square images. Setting one as wallpaper will inevitably crop out parts of it. To increase the chance of your subject remaining visible, you may clarify that you want a symmetrical image or your subject in the middle. Alternatively, you can put different parts of the image as lock and home screen wallpapers -- that's what I did in the picture above. This works well for scenes of nature and landscapes. Example prompts: Generate an image of a lion, bright neon yellow, orange and red colors, flat style, black background, symmetrical Generate an image of a fantasy village in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Night, lone tree in the foreground, mystical mountain in the background ✕ Remove Ads Specify a style to guide Gemini's algorithms Close It's a good idea to specify a style for your image. In my experience, this yields eye-pleasing results and limits the chance of Gemini generating something wildly unexpected. For example, you may request an abstract, minimalist, fantasy, or photorealistic image, a cartoon, or a watercolor or oil painting. Naming an artist or specifying a famous painting as a reference is also an option worth experimenting with. Example prompts: Generate an image of a labrador in the style of the Mona Lisa Generate an image of hot air balloons flying over a seaside village, expressionist style, oil painting Generate an image of the android logo, rainbow colors, watercolor painting style, textured paper background Generate an image of a sakura forest at sunrise, Minecraft style, high and wide camera angle Generate an image of a cute cat in the style of the Pokémon cartoon, pastel colors, white background ✕ Remove Ads Using a reference image for inspiration Google Gemini lets you upload an image, and the AI algorithms will use it as a reference. Uploading a photo is an alternative way of defining the objects and composition of the generated image. You can still request a style in your prompt -- for example, you can turn a favorite photo from your camera roll into a cartoon or a painting. Or you might ask the AI to remix a famous painting. I got the image above by uploading Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" and asking Gemini to "generate an image like this, but with cats instead of people." What images can't Google Gemini generate? Even the best AI has its limitations ✕ Remove Ads Like every AI image generator, Gemini has its weak spots. One annoyance is that all images are square in proportion and only up to 2048 by 2048 pixels in resolution. This is good enough for 1080p screens, but not ideal for the best phone displays we see on high-end flagships. Another drawback is that text and patterns are more likely to be glitchy. There are a couple of other restrictions, too. People can appear in your images, but only if you have a paid Gemini Advanced subscription, and images of public figures are not allowed, but popular cartoon and game characters turn out fine. Google Gemini is not just a gimmick Making wallpapers with Gemini represents just a fraction of what Google's AI tool can do. In fact, the biggest changes in Gemini 2.0 make it more useful than ever. The update added better processing of audio and image information, agentive AI features, and deeper integration with Google's ecosystem, among other goodies. Using the best Gemini extensions, you can be more efficient both at home and at work. ✕ Remove Ads Although one could argue that Gemini is getting complicated too quickly, especially for something that's been around for only about a year. Whether you feel the same or not, it's guaranteed that AI is here to stay, and it's only going to get more capable in 2025.

Gemini 2.0: The good, the bad, and the meh

Initially launched in December 2023, Google Gemini has recently undergone a substantial upgrade with the early December release of Gemini 2.0. It's built for what Google calls the "agentic era," with capabilities that allow it to more independently act on complex, multistep processes. ✕ Remove Ads Other core improvements include native image and audio processing, faster response times, improved coding capabilities, and new integrations that are being developed with other Google apps and solutions to help power your Android smartphone, computer, and other connected devices. Related 5 simple ways to supercharge your Android with Google Gemini The Google Assistant killer? Posts10 A head-spinning onslaught of new Gemini models Google has been spinning out a ton of different AI models lately, with multiple new versions released in the past few weeks. In certain respects, such as speed in 2.0 Flash, improvements are readily noticeable. Others are in more specialized areas, like coding. Meanwhile, 2.0 Pro is still under development. ✕ Remove Ads The new 2.0 models are available on the desktop, and more recently in the Gemini mobile app, where you'll find a selector to choose between them. And let's not forget the on-device Nano model, which is already powering certain Google Pixel features such as call summaries. It's also worth noting that another new model, 2.0 Experimental Advanced, popped up on the desktop in the last few days. As Taylor Kerns points out, though, Gemini is becoming more complex, and it's getting hard to keep track of all the variants. Since there's not a lot of information available on Experimental Advanced, I've stuck with the two in the comparison below. FeatureGemini 1.5 ProGemini 2.0 Flash Experimental Context Window1 million tokens (around 750,000 words or 1,500 pages of text)1 million tokens (around 750,000 words or 1,500 pages of text) SpeedResponses within a few secondsAround 2x faster Power ConsumptionHigherLower Reasoning/LogicStrong reasoning and collaborationClaims improved reasoning and adds agentic capabilities MultimodalImage and audio converted to text for processing.Native image and audio processing. Can now "speak" using AI voices. Image creationWas suspendedSupported Coding Can generate codeCan generate and execute code, parse API responses, and integrate data into external applications ✕ Remove Ads Gemini 2.0 Flash is all about speed and efficiency Source: Google As the name suggests, Gemini 2.0 Flash is engineered for speed. Google claims it doubles the speed of its predecessor, and as a user of both 1.5 Pro and 2.0 Flash Experimental, I can attest to its snappiness. 2.0 provides nearly instantaneous responses to the same queries that might take 1.5 Pro a few seconds. That might not sound like a massive impact, but instantaneous response unlocks new potential for real-time applications such as speech interactions. It also makes the overall user experience feel more refined. Despite its increased power, Gemini 2.0 Flash is also designed to be more energy-efficient, which could directly translate into better battery life on your smartphone. ✕ Remove Ads Gemini 2.0 Flash brings enhanced capabilities in other core areas. Google says it outperforms Gemini 1.5 Pro in complex tasks such as coding, math, and logical reasoning. Furthermore, Gemini 2.0 Flash can now directly execute code, autonomously process API responses, and call user-defined functions. 2.0 is starting to look more like an end-to-end development solution than a simple code generator. Gemini wants to be your AI agent Close Agentic AI moves Gemini towards proactive assistance. This means Gemini can now act as an agent, carrying out multistep tasks on your behalf. Future applications will include everything from gaming and robotics to travel planning. Let's say you're planning a trip to Tokyo. Instead of simply asking Gemini for sightseeing suggestions, you could ask it to "create a detailed itinerary for a 5-day trip to Tokyo, including must-see attractions, local restaurant recommendations, and estimated costs." I tried this exact prompt and the platform generated a compelling day-by-day itinerary for me. But there are still missing components. ✕ Remove Ads Theoretically, Gemini could even go further by booking flights and accommodations, reserving tables at restaurants, and a lot more. In fact, 2.0 Flash does integrate with Google Flights and can show hotel availability at your destination, but that final step of automating the whole process is still to come. It's easy to see how that could be a tough one to solve, as booking the wrong flight, for instance, can quite literally carry a steep price. Imagine an AI booking you a journey to the wrong Springfield! Gemini 2.0 can see, hear, and speak Close The advancements in multimodal input and output within Gemini 2.0 are another key feature. By seamlessly integrating information from various sources like text, images, video, and audio, Gemini 2.0 can experience the world more like we do. This paves the way for more human-like communication. ✕ Remove Ads Gemini 2.0 can now converse by using an AI voice. In the mobile app, I found several different voices to choose from, selected one I liked, and had a surprisingly natural, flowing conversation where I asked the AI questions about a city I'd like to visit. The level of effort was definitely lower than typing queries and reading responses. While this functionality isn't new to the industry-think AI "companion" apps-it is new to Gemini. Native image and audio processing deliver noticeable improvements A cool improvement in Gemini 2.0 is its ability to directly process images and audio. In contrast, its predecessors converted these inputs to text, leading to more information loss. Direct processing allows a deeper understanding of the input. Gemini 2.0 can not only identify elements within an image or audio but can also understand interrelationships and the scene as a whole. ✕ Remove Ads During testing, I fed Gemini 2.0 Flash an image I took looking out from my office. In the foreground is a window screen, while there are shrubs and other objects in the mid-ground. The AI knew right away that the photo was shot through a screen, and described in great detail other elements in the scene. On the whole, I've found that the 2.0 model does offer more nuanced and detailed analysis of images than the previous version. Gemini's image generation is back, but does anyone care? Despite the fanfare around Gemini 2.0's improved capabilities, the return of its Imagen image generation feature was a bit dull. After the initial controversy and subsequent disabling of the feature due to biases and inaccuracies, the re-release feels uninteresting. Maybe Imagen has been watered down to avoid additional controversy, or maybe it's just that the novelty of AI image generation wore off during Google's long pause. ✕ Remove Ads The above image is what Gemini 2.0 Flash Experimental created when prompted to "create the most interesting image you can conjure." While I understand that's a subjective prompt, I would nonetheless call the result underwhelming. At best, it looks like a scene in a video game. Through further experimentation, when I prompted 2.0 Flash Experimental simply to "create an image of people," it refused. Switching back to 1.5 Pro and giving the same prompt did result in a stock photo-like image of a group of friends in vibrant colors. With Imagen, we see through the eyes of Googe's AI, and its perspective isn't very inspiring. New integrations foreshadow the future Source: Google By weaving Gemini's capabilities into core services like Search, Maps, and Workspace, Google aims to deliver a more unified user experience. ✕ Remove Ads In the future, your search queries on Google will yield dynamic, AI-powered responses that will likely draw on information from your emails, documents, and even your location history to provide more personally relevant results. Google is already experimenting with AI search summaries that feature Audio Overviews in the style of its sister product, NotebookLM. Early initiatives like Project Astra and Project Mariner are finally seeing the light of day in the latest Gemini models. Astra comprises experimentation with AI-powered code agents, such as Jules. Meanwhile, Mariner could enable tasks like automatically filling out forms or summarizing web pages. These projects are essentially the philosophical pillars on which Google is developing its AI applications and services. Related Google's experimental Gemini 2.0 Advanced model is here, but not for everyone Your Pixel's free subscription might come in handy Posts ✕ Remove Ads Google is building a solid AI foundation with Gemini Gemini 2.0 is a significant step forward for Google AI, offering faster speeds, enhanced reasoning, and seamless multimodal integration. The lackluster return of image generation and the confusing array of model variants highlight the complexities of this fast-moving category. However, the advancements in agentic AI, new coding, voice and image capabilities, along with the deeper integration with core Google services foreshadow good things to come in 2025.