AI at Work in 2025: Google Gemini
If you learnt Copilot yesterday, what should you learn today??
Google Gemini received a bundle of updates recently and the pace is aggressive. We wanted to take a look at Gemini because it is a constellation in the night sky mainly, but also because it is the only other major LLM that is freely available to the public. OpenAI via ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot get all the airtime but is this justified? Mulder investigates.?
Gemini began life as Bard in 2023 to compete with ChatGPT. Before that time, around 2021, Google had an LLM called LaMDA but this was not released to the public because back then even big tech were frightened of what the public might try and do with it, or to it.
It was only in February 2024 that Bard and a product called Duet AI were unified under Gemini branding and launched alongside an Android app. [Mulder is this just a paste from Wikipedia? And don’t forget to remind them that Android is Google’s smartphone OS. Scully.]?
Therefore comparable to Copilot except that (confusingly) Gemini is also an LLM as well as an app and work assistant. See our first issue together. [Is this a reference to William? Scully.]
Notebook LM is a separate product to Gemini but the excellent Pro version is included in your Google AI Premium plan. It is very useful for researchers or anyone writing a report on an unfamiliar topic. You can upload any PDFs or other documents and ask questions about them.?
One of the Gemini models is tuned to work with other Google Apps like Maps and YouTube so you can ask questions about directions and also ask it to summarise lots of videos that you don’t have time to watch. [Actually it is "2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental with apps". Scully.]?
Scully suggested we just run all our past 10 seasons of the X Files through it so none of you have to bother watching them. That’s the kind of person she is. It’s a wonder we didn’t get married actually. [We did. Scully.]?
Clearly Google have been reading this newsletter because they are now bundling the AI features into Google One family plans, at least until end June 2025. This was a major omission last time we wrote about Gemini that has been corrected. A lot of other vendors limit the really top premium benefits to only the plan manager, such as Spotify.?
Google are also including what they describe as the ‘best’ Gemini features into their business product known as Workspace and broadly similar to MS365. This is a direct challenge to Microsoft who still charge extra for business access to Copilot, although they have long since stopped trying to sell it to personal users. As you would expect Gemini links in to all the familiar Google suite like Docs, Slides and Sheets. [Don’t we work with someone called Sheets? Scully.]
Scully Explains
This week, Mulder’s gone deep into the history of Google’s Gemini, and lost me. Can I request we use characters from something I’ve seen for the next article please? [Scully! Mulder.]?
Honestly, all I care about is how these tools can help me. If you’re the same, here’s the simple version:-?
领英推è
Gemini is Google’s answer to ChatGPT. For us normal people or “plebs†as Mulder referred to me just yesterday. [Just me being kind. Mulder.]?
Looking at how we can use it on a daily basis, ultimately it can do pretty much all the same things as Open AI’s GPT, like:-?
- Answering questions and giving explanations.
- Helping you write emails, documents, or social media posts.
- Generating ideas and brainstorming.
- Summarising long articles or reports.
- Planning your day, meals, holidays—you name it.
So, what’s the difference? Honestly not a huge amount. (About to predict the future again... this will change in the next 12 months with who has the most funding, who gets bought etc, so subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date ??). However right now it mostly comes down to what phone you have.
If you have an Android phone, Gemini makes sense because it’s baked into Google’s ecosystem, meaning it will be nicely integrated with all your apps and devices.
But if you’re like me and have an iPhone, then ChatGPT is probably your best bet. It’s available as an app, and it just works.
In short, they do the same stuff, so pick the one that fits your tech setup.
That’s it—no long history lesson needed. But if you are interested in all that background info, Mulder’s got you covered.