Google's AI Overhaul: Gemini Integration Reshapes Smart Home Landscape

Google Home on Shaky Ground Even With Gemini Getting Involved

Covered the mobile and smart home tech space for the past five years for multiple large publications. Google Assistant is something many of us have grown to rely on over the years. From setting reminders and timers to controlling media and smart home devices, the digital butler has become a valuable part of many people's lives, including mine. If you've noticed a drop off in general reliability in the last couple of years, you aren't alone. I began to notice this as other products, including Google Gemini (formerly Bard,) began getting more of Google's focus. But coincidence or not, it certainly appears related. However, Google seems to be attempting to resolve these issues as Gemini seems to be making its way into the Google Home world via these recent announcements. Unfortunately, these updates don't appear to be targeted at getting Google Assistant back to where it was, a reliable digital assistant that seemed to know what you needed before asking. So, what does Gemini's foray into Google's smart home platform mean if it isn't resolving issues? Let's see if we can sort it out. Gemini is a powerful AI tool that Google is leveraging in different ways. However, most of the current use cases don't directly correlate to how smart home users interact with their smart homes through Google Assistant. But that is beginning to shift with the latest announcement to bring Google Gemini to Google Home. Perhaps the most significant integration, and honestly a really great use for it, is in Nest security cameras. My colleague Tyler Lacoma wrote about how this works and what to expect from it. A brief bit on it is that thanks to the multi-modal functionality of Gemini, as it can work with text, images, and video, Nest cameras will be able to better and more thoroughly recognize what it sees. This will help generate better previews and more accurate notifications, among other things. As for how Gemini will impact the other parts of Google Home and smart home devices, the initial integration is a bit thin but helpful. If you've ever tried creating an automation in Google Home, or Routines as Google sometimes calls it, while it isn't overly difficult, it can be tedious and sometimes lack clarity. This can be frustrating for beginner or casual smart home users. When it comes to building more complex automation, Google introduced a script editor and a "Help me script" built on generative AI. This feature works relatively well, and the AI integration helps those a bit unsure about how to work with scripts. Unfortunately, script editing is too advanced for many, and even seasoned users would appreciate a simpler option. This is where the new Gemini integration will help. The idea behind the inclusion of Gemini is going to work much like you'd ask Google Assistant to set a reminder, add something to your shopping list, or other helpful phrases. Now, you'll be able to ask for help to create an automation using your voice and regular speech. It's the last bit that is going to really make this new automation assistant feature work. Part of what makes Gemini easier to use is that it allows for normal, common speech. So, instead of being required to remember the exact words needed and the order they have to be in, you'll be able to just speak as you would to a person and it should be understood. Below is an example from Google and how Gemini can help. I was once a staunch Google Home and Google Assistant user. As an Android phone user, I've got far too much information in Google's services, which should mean that using Google Assistant in my smart home would be the obvious choice. For a long time, it was. However, in the past couple of years, that experience has degraded so much that I rarely use Google Assistant for any smart home needs or much of anything else. Simply asking my Google Assistant to turn on some lights or adjust my thermostat would result in a response telling me that it "doesn't know how to do that yet." This issue led me to move most of my smart home devices to Amazon Alexa and Home Assistant. Now, much to my family's dismay, I still have Google Assistant smart speakers and smart displays throughout my house, but aside from music and showing photos, those devices mostly just sit. When I mentioned to Google during a briefing on the new features and Google TV Streamer that Google Assistant fails more than it succeeded in basic smart home controls, and if there are fixes for this on the near horizon, I was told, "Gemini integration will help improve quality and consistency across Assistant functions. Quality is the team's top priority." While I'm sure Google would like to improve the overall quality of Google Assistant, how and when this will happen is unclear. I also asked about how Google Gemini and Google Assistant will work together in the future, "In the context of the home, our fundamental user needs have not changed with the development of LLMs such as Gemini. Our users want to be safe and secure, comfortable and entertained. These have remained the same priorities and user needs even after the development of Gemini. Now, we're at an AI inflection point where Gemini is ready to help serve and enhance those user needs we've always had. It's clear that Google has plans to integrate Gemini into as many of its services as possible, and that could be a good thing. Seeing how the AI tool is already improving parts of Google Home and Nest is hopeful. However, with the basic functionality of using Google Assistant to control your smart home a mess and Gemini still not able to directly control those devices, the map to resolution is about as clear as the maps used to explore the world in 1492, at least to users out in the wild. Google hasn't directly stated its plan for Gemini and Google Assistant, whether the two will remain separate or eventually merge. For me, as a Google Assistant and Home user, this leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as I and many others don't have a reliable voice assistant to control smart home devices. But isn't this the very purpose of the smart speakers and displays that Google ships?

Gemini Isn't Replacing Google Assistant After All

The launch of Gemini was once seen as a death knell for Google Assistant. Now, somewhat confusingly, Google Assistant is gaining new smart home capabilities "with help from Gemini." It seems that the aging Assistant will coexist with Google's darling LLM. Google never explicitly stated that Gemini would replace Assistant. But the writing was on the wall. Or, at least, it appeared to be there. Google Assistant has been in slow decline for years, losing key functionality and progressively withering into a crappier version of what it once was. The rise of ChatGPT was accompanied by a chorus of "this is what a voice assistant will look like in the future," and to no one's surprise, Gemini became a semi-optional replacement for Assistant on Android phones earlier this year. A new product was pushing its predecessor into obsolescence -- this is what happens to technology. We didn't expect any upgrades or improvements for Google Assistant. Now, Google is busting down the door to announce Assistant's new voice, enhanced capabilities, and improved ability to understand voice commands. All of these features come courtesy of Gemini. Evidently, Google Assistant will remain a component of the Google Home environment. It's unclear whether this is a branding decision or simply a matter of convenience. Most of the tasks that are fulfilled by Google Assistant (at least in the smart home) do not exist in Gemini. And while there may be some AI smarts behind Assistant's language capabilities, no one will ever ask their Nest Mini speaker to generate an essay or proofread an email. A smart home assistant needs to be succinct, not verbose. The new Google Assistant improvements were announced in a press release alongside several other Gemini smart home integrations (subtly reinforcing the idea that Assistant is now a smart home-specific product). And these AI smart home integrations are plainly in Gemini's wheelhouse. You can now have a conversation with your Nest Cam to ask what it's seen throughout the day, for example, or generate a Google Home script through natural language input (the latter feature already existed in some capacity). In the past, these Nest Cam and Google Home upgrades would be accredited to Assistant. So, yeah, Gemini is replacing Assistant as the conversational or generative aspect of Google's portfolio, but Assistant is still the thing you talk to when controlling smart home devices. This could be an aberration in Google's AI strategy. For all we know, Assistant will be randomly dumped in a grave next year. But that's not the case today, and Google isn't taking the time to explain how things will shake out. New Gemini-powered Google Home improvements, including the Assistant upgrades, will roll out to Nest Aware subscribers in Public Preview later this year. A full rollout, which may or may not remove the Nest Aware requirement, will come at a later date. Source: Google

Google injects Gemini into Nest cameras and Assistant

And you're replacing Chromecast with TV Streamer? Great! That's a logical step for the evolving landscape of ... Google's Gemini AI is making its way to Nest cameras and Google Assistant, with the web goliath claiming the upgrade will make its smart devices smarter. Announced today, these Gemini-based features will be rolled out later this year to Nest devices for owners who are subscribed to Nest Aware, an $8-monthly service. The AI updates detailed so far are for Nest cameras and Google Assistant, which runs on Nest speakers and displays. The Chocolate Factory's pitch for AI in cameras rests on Gemini's ability to comprehend, in a very artificial way, what it's seeing. Instead of just being able to detect motion, for instance, it will apparently be able to describe for users exactly what's happening, such as "the dog is digging in the garden" or "balloons, basket on doormat." This capability will purportedly make it possible for Nest owners to use the Google Home app to search footage with questions like "did the FedEx truck drive by today?" That would, in theory, eliminate the need to scrub a timeline to find whatever a user is looking for. Gemini can also make custom automations (essentially automated scripts for Nest devices) out of a simple question. Users don't even need to describe exactly what they want to Google's AI, as it can come up with a suggested automation that fits what a user is looking for. Voice-and-keyboard controlled Google Assistant meanwhile will be getting something of a ChatGPT-like upgrade. The tech giant hasn't really made any specific claims beyond the digital assistant being "more natural and helpful," but did demonstrate it answering a question about whether Pluto was a planet or not, and then answering a follow up question on if that could change in the future. Not exactly world-shattering at this point, though. Pun intended. While the features certainly seem like a big improvement for Google's smart home devices, there may be some points of concern. For starters, AI has been known to be funky at times, and Gemini is no exception. Users will definitely want to double check any automations created by Gemini, unless they want to experience what it's like to live in a haunted house. Privacy could also be a salient issue, though Google says it does "all of this while ensuring your data is safe and private, consistent with our principles." The Chocolate Factory has been hit and miss when it comes to privacy over the years, and is by far not the worst offender though it is currently fending off a suit specifically over children's privacy. And of course, there's the matter of Google eventually killing support for these features, because that's just what the ad biz does if it's given enough time. ®