Looks like they’re going all-in on AI, dubbing it “built for the Gemini era.” It’s expected to drop Aug. 13.
Use AI to plan your next vacation
I’m going to Europe soon, and planning my trip was a breeze. Yes, really! AI did a big chunk of the work for me — and it can help you plan your next getaway, too. Here are a few ways to turn AI into your travel agent. For this, let’s stick with using the big bots:
- ChatGPT: My preferred AI chatbot; gives the best results.
- Gemini: Google’s chatbot is integrated into Google Flights and Google Hotels. I don’t think it’s as thorough as ChatGPT, and it often throws in its weird opinions.
1. Start with your likes and wants
Your AI travel buddy can do so much more than suggest tourist traps — it can help you create a truly tailored adventure.
🎨 By interests
AI can curate a list of spots that match your hobbies:
- “Find me the best food tours in Paris that include wine tastings.”
- “What are some scenic hiking trails within 30 miles of Denver?”
- “Suggest must-see art galleries in NYC for modern art lovers.”
☀️ By weather
AI can suggest destinations based on your preferred climate:
- “Find me a warm destination in the U.S. for January with average temps above 70 degrees Fahrenheit.”
- “What are the best ski resorts in Wyoming for late December?”
- “Where can I play golf in May with mild, spring-like weather?”
🎭 By occasion or vibe
Not sure where you want to go? Let AI find the perfect match for your mood:
Google's new Gemini-powered Bard raises privacy eyebrows
It’s been about a year since OpenAI launched ChatGPT. Now, everyone’s in a race to make their AI tech bigger and better. This week, Google announced significant developments in its Bard chatbot and it’s coming in guns blazing.
New to the Apple App Store: Google Gemini for iPhone. The AI chatbot has a leg up on ChatGPT in one big way: It links to Google apps like Mail, Maps, Calendar and YouTube. Open the Gemini for iPhone app, tap your profile icon at the top right corner and select Extensions. Toggle on any apps you want to link all in one place.
The biggest heist in history
What’s the backbone of chatbots like Gemini or ChatGPT? It’s the art, science, and hard work of real humans — humans who may never get credit or compensation.
“The Twilight Zone” moment: A Michigan grad student was chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot about homework. Out of nowhere, the bot said, “You are a burden on society … Please die. Please.” Google’s response? Large-language models can sometimes produce nonsensical responses, and this was just one of those instances.
🎞️ Coming to (paid) Google Workspace in the next few days: Google’s AI-powered Vids app pops out presentations with just a prompt. Describe what you want, drop in files or documents, and Gemini does the rest. The app adds stock footage, generates a script and provides an AI voiceover. Will it make presentations better? Sitting through a PowerPoint presentation is like a mix between a root canal and a colonoscopy … but without the luxury of anesthesia to take the edge off.
Speaking of Alphabet, “G” is also for Gemini: Gemini AI in Google Maps can help you find interesting spots nearby, and it even summarizes others’ reviews. Any chatbot can use this data to answer location-based questions. In Waze, you can report accidents just by talking to the app, too. They’re hoping more eyeballs in the apps equals more ad dollars.
Grammarly who? Google is adding more AI-powered writing tools to Gmail. Open a draft, select Help me write and type 12 or more words. Click Refine my draft to polish, formalize, elaborate, shorten or even start fresh. The catch? It’s available if you pay for Google One AI Premium or the Gemini add-on for Workspace.
📅 AI personal assistant: Google Gemini or ChatGPT can plan your day for you. Tell the AI your top three priorities, appointments or commitments and how long a task typically takes. Then, ask it to create a schedule. Just like that, you’ll get a bulleted list, scheduled right down to the minute.
How AI can help you parent
Being a mom or dad can be tough, but AI chatbots like ChatGPT, CoPilot, or Gemini can help.
Overwhelmed? AI can help: Here’s a smart prompt for ChatGPT, Gemini or your fave chatbot. “I want to [fill in the blank], but I don’t know where to start. Can you help me by breaking it down into more manageable tasks?” Should’ve tried this before I decided to sort my entire closet. Argh.
📧 AI coming to Gmail inboxes: Soon, a “smart assistant” will summarize email threads and suggest responses. A Q&A tool (powered by Gemini) will dig through your emails to answer questions like, “I got three bids for a new roof. Which one is the best?” Once it’s live for everyone, I’ll show you how to use it.
Give me the highlights: Don’t let a YouTube video hold you hostage, only for you to find out it wasn’t worth your time. I like Perplexity AI for this task. All you need to do is copy the video URL, paste the link into Gemini, and use the prompt “Summarize this video” to have it skim the details for you.
Which AI is the best?
Is it Gemini, ChatGPT, or Perplexity? I have the winners in this short podcast.
Get what you want from AI
ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini can be super useful for a bunch of tasks. Let me show you how to give them effective prompts.
Google chatbot goes woke
How did Gemini spark controversy last week? I dish what happened in this short podcast.
Spy satellites are watching you
Yep, they’re not just looking at the the military — we’ve got the details. Plus, a massive cellular outage across the U.S., Google pauses Gemini’s image generator after a blunder and an Oklahoma man hacks a government auction website.
Google’s Bard chatbot is now Gemini: If you want a smarter AI, go for Gemini Advanced. It’s $19.99 a month and you get 2TB of cloud storage and Gmail integration. FYI, most people are fine with the free version. Try it for a few weeks before you hand over your credit card.
Is Google's new AI, Gemini, the ChatGPT killer?
Last week, the Alphabet company released a new large language model. Here’s what that means for OpenAI.