How to experience the new Gemini Live voice assistant on Android

At this year’s Google Developer’s Global Conference (I/O 2024), while the company was discussing the upcoming improvements to the AI assistant Gemini, it hinted at a feature called Gemini Live that is supposed to compete with OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode added to the ChatGPT robot alongside the launch of the GPT-4o model. This model is designed to have a high level of understanding and response to complex commands similar to the human mind. Google has officially announced the introduction of the “Gemini Live” feature during the launch of its new devices at the Made By Google conference. The goal is to change the way we interact with Gemini on the phone and make it more interactive to accomplish tasks with the help of artificial intelligence. So, if you are looking forward to experiencing the “Live Conversation with Gemini” feature now, here is what you need to do.

If you are using an Android phone, there is a good chance you have used Google Assistant at least once to interact with your phone via voice and perform intuitive tasks like setting a timer or playing music. The key here is that the “default Google assistant” makes completing tasks easier one way or another. Now with the AI-powered Gemini robot, Google has reimagined what it means to have a truly useful personal assistant. With Gemini, Google aims to provide more accurate and deep responses to complex queries. While it is possible to ask questions and inquire with Gemini using voice, the experience is very traditional.

The new feature Gemini Live makes the experience of talking with Gemini seem natural as if you are talking to a human, from the voice nuances that make you forget you are talking to a robot, to the ability to interrupt responses to add details or even change the subject. In short, Gemini Live goes beyond executing simple and complex tasks through voice commands, as Google describes it as “having a pocket assistant to chat with about new ideas or practice a meaningful conversation.”

You can benefit from Gemini Live without needing to touch your phone. It’s easy to continue the conversation with Gemini in the background or when the phone is locked, allowing the conversation to seamlessly shift wherever you go just like your regular phone use. Gemini Live was designed on Google’s latest linguistic model – Gemini 1.5 Flash – which allows for understanding complex queries and providing precise and detailed responses. The robot can analyze multiple sources of information simultaneously, summarize data to provide the most relevant and up-to-date answers. As mentioned, Google has already started rolling out Gemini Live for Android phones. If you’re interested, here are the requirements to experience the new voice assistant Gemini Live.

When Google first introduced Gemini Live, users had to subscribe to Gemini Advanced first. However, Google has now made the new experience available to users of the free version of Gemini as well. All you need to do is make sure you have the latest available version of the Google app installed on your Android phone. If you haven’t activated Gemini as the default assistant instead of Google Assistant, you can do so without the need to download the Gemini app independently, as it is now integrated into the Google app. To access it, open the “Google app,” then tap on your profile picture at the top and select “Settings,” then go to “Gemini” to see the difference between Google Assistant and Gemini, tap on the “Switch” button, and follow the on-screen instructions to make Gemini the primary smart assistant on your phone.