Gemini Live feels like magic, and I want it on my Chromebook

This week, I’ve been pretty blown away by Gemini Live. When I saw it debuted during the Made By Google event on Tuesday, I was very interested. But now that I’ve had it on my phone for a couple days, I’m far more impressed. While obviously not perfect, this new conversational ability for Gemini feels like the future, and as much as I love it on the phone and hope for it in smart speakers soon, I sorely want it on a Chromebook.

Google Assistant woes

I remember when Google brought the Assistant to Chromebooks and how hopeful I was that I’d be able to summon it, have it complete simple tasks, and never have to leave my workflow to do so. That hope never really materialized, however, and the Google Assistant has largely sat unused on any Chromebook I’ve been on ever since.

Like with smart speakers, I really yearned for the Google Assistant to become far more conversational on Chromebooks than it ever did. To have been truly helpful in these sorts of settings, we all needed an assistant that could understand queries and requests, work out what is needed, and simply go do that thing.

Gemini Live could change the game

And Gemini Live does just that. Google is still bolting on the functionality it will need to do simple tasks for you, but when that stuff arrives, talking to Gemini will feel far closer to talking to an assistant than Google Assistant ever did.

I imagine hitting a key combo or clicking a button and having Gemini do a whole host of things for me. From opening apps to checking the calendar to sending a message, an assistant with this sort of grasp of language can really become useful for all sorts of things.

Instead of remembering just the right way to phrase a question or query, Gemini gives users the ability to simply ask for what they need and figure it out on the way. And if that ability comes to Chromebooks, I know I’d use it far more often than I ever did with the Google Assistant.

Gemini Live on the web

While the move to the Android Linux Kernel will make Chromebooks a far easier target for Gemini baked right into the OS in the future, I’d also be pretty excited to simply navigate Gemini Live on the web.

Right now, the Gemini app on Chromebooks is simply a PWA that leverages the web version of Gemini, so there’s a chance that future Gemini Live updates will happen via this app first. That means a simple path to Gemini’s natural language abilities could be there for anyone on any device via the web once Google gets this figured out.

In their support forums for Gemini Live, the web gets listed with other platforms as not having access to the conversational AI “for now”, but that gives me hope that it’s in the works. Going this route would make the most sense for Gemini Live on Chromebooks in the near term, and it would be amazing if it happens sooner than later.

How long it will be before Gemini gets baked in the same way Google Assistant is on ChromeOS is anyone’s guess, but I know I’m ready for it. There’s something so much more compelling about chatting with an AI assistant in this way, and I think it could be a massive up-sell for Chromebooks the minute it becomes a reality.