Google Introduces Gemini AI to Nest Speakers: A New Era for Smart Home Assistants

How to test Gemini in Google Assistant on Nest Mini, Audio

After being spotted by some earlier this month, Google has detailed how Gemini "AI-powered answers" in Google Assistant works on the Nest Mini and Audio. A new support document details how: "You can experiment with new, more natural sounding voices and get AI-powered answers from Google Assistant with help from Gemini." Specifically, Google Assistant will use an "LLM to respond to a wider range of questions and provide more in-depth, AI-powered answers on general knowledge topics." To access, you need to join the Google Home Public Preview and enable a secondary "Experimental AI features" setting on that page, which is not yet widely available. Notably, only the Nest Audio and 2nd-gen Nest Mini supports this experience as of right now. Nest Hubs are currently excluded, while you must also have Voice Match enabled. Lastly, this "AI-powered experience is only available in English, in the US, and to users 18 and over." In terms of what's new, you can: This is not too different from what's possible with Gemini Live on Android and iOS. Google provides the standard disclaimer "AI-powered answers from Google Assistant are experimental": On the voices front, there should be "new, more natural sounding voices" under Google Home Settings tab > Google Assistant > Assistant voice & sounds when this experience is enabled. When you're using this experience, there will be a "chime before Google Assistant responds with an AI-powered answer."

Google Gemini on your Nest speaker: How to give it a try

Want to hear what Gemini AI sounds like on your Google Nest speaker? Just follow these steps. Both Amazon and Apple are playing it safe when it comes to allowing generative AI on their respective smart speakers. On the other hand, you can already chat with Google's Gemini AI on a Nest device, and Google has now detailed how you can get in on the test. The whole "there's Gemini in my Nest!" hubbub began earlier this month, when some Nest speaker users began noticing that Google Assistant was speaking in two different voices: the standard Assistant voice, and a deeper, more loquacious voice that most suspected was powered by Gemini. Google has now confirmed that it's testing Gemini on certain Nest devices, and (as spotted by 9to5Google), it's even published a support page detailing how you, too, can give Gemini a spin on your Nest speaker. Here's what you'll need to do: Checked off all the steps? Now it's time to give Gemini on your Nest speakers a whirl. In its support document, Google notes that Gemini will step in to answer "a wider range of questions and provide more in-depth, AI-powered answers on general knowledge topics." In other words, you may get vanilla Google Assistant if you ask a question like, "Hey Google, what's the weather?" Instead, try a question that's a little more wide-ranging, like (as Google suggests) "Hey Google, can giraffes talk to each other?" You'll know you got Gemini if you hear a telltale chime before the answer. Gemini on your Nest speaker should sound a little smoother and more natural on your Nest speaker compared to the old Google Assistant. You should also be able to ask it follow-up questions without the "Hey Google" wake words. Of course, the usual caveats apply when dealing with an LLM like Gemini, with Google warning that users "double-check these answers as they may be inaccurate," and "don't rely on these answers as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice." Amen to that.