All New Gemini Features Announced at Google I/O
Google I/O has come and gone—at least the keynote. Unlike previous years, not many groundbreaking features were announced; rather, the event was mainly focused on Google’s overall plans for Gemini and artificial intelligence for the future.
These plans also include Android. Google announced that it will share all the details about Android 15 on Wednesday, but today during its first I/O event, the company noted some general AI changes coming to Android devices.
Homework search circle
The search circle is not a new feature; Google introduced it earlier this year to allow users to start searching for items on the screen by circling them.
However, during today’s announcement, Google showed off a new Circle to Search feature: homework help. The tool now recognizes long problems and can guide students on how to solve them. Let’s say you have a complex math problem: circle it and Gemini will break down the process for you. Of course, the answer is included, but so is the reasoning, so it can be a tool for learning how to solve future problems rather than just a way to cheat on homework.
Gemini is now “context dependent”
Google was very happy to announce that Gemini is now “context aware” on Android. What they mean by this is that Gemini will recognize what you’re currently doing on your phone or tablet when you call the assistant, and will take that into account when returning a result for your request.
In the example on stage, a demonstrator was talking to a friend who asked if they wanted to play pickleball. A demonstrator jokingly asked if pickleball plays tennis with a pickle, then brought Geminis into the chat to create a meme about a pickleball playing tennis. Then a friend sent a video about how to play pickleball: The demonstrator asked Gemini a question about the game, and since the AI realized that the demonstrator was watching a video, it looked for the answer in the video rather than the internet in general.
AI for fraud prevention
This was my favorite feature of the entire event. Google demonstrated how Gemini can analyze your phone calls as you make them and alert you to potential fraud. There’s nothing subtle about this either: During the demonstration, someone claiming to be a bank called and claimed that there were suspicious payments in the demonstrator’s account. When a demonstrator asked what the charges were and the caller said he couldn’t tell over the phone, the phone instantly buzzed with a potential scam alert.
I would love to see companies like Google take this idea and implement it. Fraud is already widespread in digital life, and with the advent of generative artificial intelligence, it is only getting worse. If companies can use AI technology to combat AI fraud as well, so much the better.
Android 15 news coming tomorrow
Again, this is just a short list of the Gemini features coming to Android in general, not the entire list of changes coming in Android 15. According to Google, there’s more news about Android features coming tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.