Not a day goes by that I don’t get in a verbal spat with the bodiless, soulless, guileless Google Assistant that lives inside the Google Nest Hub that underpins my smart home. It’s obstinate, it’s regularly dimwitted, and for the past two months, it’s thought the date was December 4.
I frequently want to shout rude things at it and flick it off, but as it doesn’t have a camera—one of its good qualities—it would be largely useless. So I’ve semi-patiently waited for it to go obsolete and be replaced by Gemini, Google’s far smarter, college-educated generative AI.
regime change
Recently, a page has popped up on the Android Auto section of Google’s support site that says “Google Assistant is still available for use until March 2026.”
Google has long telegraphed its intention to expand Gemini into spaces currently occupied by its older, less advanced Google Assistant, but this update doesn’t seem to refer to Gemini displacing Google Assistant in all, or even most, Google devices.
9to5Google put two and two together when they said, “First and foremost, the Android Auto section of Google’s support network appears to be the only place where this message is appearing. Other support topics about Android devices, Gemini, Google Assistant, and more completely lack this message.”
Generative AIs are more liable to “hallucinations.” You know, confidently making s—t up to avoid having to say they don’t know something. I’m eager to see how that plays out in a car while driving, although I’d have to assume Google has locked Gemini into only using Google Maps while driving, lest it constantly give false directions during navigation.
I, for one, am looking forward to our new Gemini overlord, as long as it doesn’t give me fake directions that lead straight into the world’s biggest open sewer manhole or try to gaslight me into thinking that I’m not driving, just actually dreaming.
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