
I use Gemini Live every day — here's the 7 craziest things I've found it can do for you
Similar to how Google Lens allows us to see a translation in real-time, Gemini Live opens up a world of possibility — to learn about bike maintenance, ask about the clouds in the sky and if it might rain, and even cheat at board games.
Here are the craziest and most impressive things you can do with Gemini Live, along with some tips on getting the most out of the bot during these interactions.
We'll call this one cheating, although it's one of the coolest things you can do with Gemini Live.
When you point your camera at your own tiles in Scrabble, for example, the bot will suggest words you can use. In one test shown in the screenshot, Gemini suggested using the word 'deck' for 24 points.
The caveat here is that Gemini Live struggles a bit when it comes to valid words — in my tests, the words were a little unusual and in some cases not in the official Scrabble dictionary. I wanted the bot to suggest words that had higher scores, too. You might try some coaching, asking for more common words or to use the double-word score.
In the modern connected home, we have gadgets for just about everything, but even adjusting the temperature can be a challenge.
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
With Gemini Live, you can point your camera at a thermostat and ask how to adjust the settings. Sometimes, Gemini might need you to focus on the name of the device, but in most cases, it knows the product just by the shape and color.
I even tried asking Gemini about something called a Dehumidistat. Gemini explained that you can set the humidity level to the desired level — the Dehumidistat controls the air ventilation system in my home.
The bot told me I can use a weather app to check the current humidity level, and then set the humidity to a lower level — such as 50% — to keep things less humid.
Gemini can also give you more complex instructions in real-time. Let's say the chain on a bike is a bit rusty (see screenshot).
Gemini can give you some tips on applying some lubricant to the chain, but you can go much further than that. If your chain is broken, Gemini can provide detailed tips about how to connect the 'rivets' (the small connectors on the chain) which usually requires something called a Master Link Pliers.
Interestingly, you can also ask Gemini which tool to use to repair the rivets and then even where to buy a product like that.
This one is really useful at the library or a bookstore.
You can pull out your phone, fire up Gemini Live, and point your camera at any book cover. Then, ask the bot to summarize the book. I tested this with even a few brand new books including one called Every Living Thing (about the history of naming plants and animals).
Gemini gave a general summary about the book, but then I asked for more details and if the book was worth purchasing. You can even converse about the book, asking about the author, where to buy it, and about similar books.
This one was quite fascinating to me. I asked Gemini about the chemical compound of the liquid in my cup. Gemini first noted that my cup had a baby photo and contained coffee; both were correct.
But then I asked about the chemical compound of coffee. I expected to hear mostly about caffeine, but the bot proceeded to explain how 'melanoidins' form during roasting to give coffee a dark tone and how 'trigonelline' is an alkaloid that creates the distinct aroma. I did the same with milk and a cup of root beer — the answers were more scientific than I expected.
This one is a great party trick because Gemini can read just about anything.
I asked the bot to read a handwritten note from one of my grandkids and listened as Gemini read the whole thing. But it started to get even more interesting.
Taking a journal which had complex notes about a gadget I'm testing — including the size, weight, and other specs — Gemini read everything perfectly and even guessed which gadget it was (correctly).
Then, I tried writing some of this article by hand in the journal and asked Gemini to read portions aloud to see if the writing was clear. It turns out Gemini Live is a great editor and proofreader.
I had fun with this one. Gemini Live can tell you which clouds are in the sky based on their shape. Pointing the camera out of my office window, Gemini correctly explained that the clouds were cumulus and that the weather looked 'fair' without a chance of rain.
It turns out that Gemini is not a bad meteorologist. Weather forecasters know that cumulus cloud rarely contain rain and are a prime indication that it's likely going to remain at least partly sunny.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
From tech podcasts to policy: Trump's new AI plan leans heavily on Silicon Valley industry ideas
The plan and related executive orders are expected to include some familiar tech lobby pitches. That includes accelerating the sale of AI technology abroad and making it easier to construct the energy-hungry data center buildings that are needed to form and run AI products, according to a person briefed on Wednesday's event who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It might also include some of the AI culture war preoccupations of the circle of venture capitalists who endorsed Trump last year. Advertisement Blocking 'woke AI' from tech contractors Countering the liberal bias they see in AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Google's Gemini has long been a rallying point for the tech industry's loudest Trump backers. Sacks, a former PayPal executive and now Trump's top AI adviser, has been criticizing 'woke AI' for more than a year, fueled by Google's February 2024 rollout of an AI image generator that, when asked to show an American Founding Father, created pictures of Black, Latino and Native American men. Advertisement 'The AI's incapable of giving you accurate answers because it's been so programmed with diversity and inclusion,' Sacks said at the time. Google quickly fixed its tool, but the 'Black George Washington' moment remained a parable for the problem of AI's perceived political bias, taken up by X owner Elon Musk, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Vice President JD Vance and Republican lawmakers. The administration's latest push against 'woke AI' comes a week after the Pentagon announced new $200 million contracts with four leading AI companies, including Google, to address 'critical national security challenges.' Also receiving one of the contracts was Musk's xAI, which has been pitched as an alternative to 'woke AI' companies. The company has faced its own challenges: Earlier this month, xAI had to scramble to remove posts made by its Grok chatbot that made antisemitic comments and praised Adolf Hitler. Streamlining AI data center permits Trump has paired AI's need for huge amounts of electricity with his own push to tap into U.S. energy sources, including gas, coal and nuclear. 'Everything we aspire to and hope for means the demand and supply of energy in America has to go up,' said Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, in a video posted Tuesday. Many tech giants are already well on their way toward building new data centers in the U.S. and around the world. OpenAI announced this week that it has switched on the first phase of a massive data center complex in Abilene, Texas, part of an Oracle-backed project known as Stargate that Trump promoted earlier this year. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and xAI also have major projects underway. Advertisement The tech industry has pushed for easier permitting rules to get their computing facilities connected to power, but the AI building boom has also contributed to spiking demand for fossil fuel production that will contribute to global warming. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the world's major tech firms to power data centers completely with renewables by 2030. 'A typical AI data center eats up as much electricity as 100,000 homes,' Guterres said. 'By 2030, data centers could consume as much electricity as all of Japan does today.' A new approach to AI exports? It's long been White House policy under Republican and Democratic administrations to curtail certain technology exports to China and other adversaries on national security grounds. But much of the tech industry argued that Biden went too far at the end of his term in trying to restrict the exports of specialized AI computer chips to more than 100 other countries, including close allies. Part of the Biden administration's motivation was to stop China from acquiring coveted AI chips in third-party locations such as Southeast Asia or the Middle East, but critics said the measures would end up encouraging more countries to turn to China's fast-growing AI industry instead of the U.S. as their technology supplier. It remains to be seen how the Trump administration aims to accelerate the export of U.S.-made AI technologies while countering China's AI ambitions. California chipmakers Nvidia and AMD both announced last week that they won approval from the Trump administration to sell to China some of their advanced computer chips used to develop artificial intelligence. Advertisement AMD CEO Lisa Su is among the guests planning to attend Trump's event Wednesday. Who benefits from Trump's AI action plan There are sharp debates on how to regulate AI, even among the influential venture capitalists who have been debating it on their favorite medium: the podcast. While some Trump backers, particularly Andreessen, have advocated an 'accelerationist' approach that aims to speed up AI advancement with minimal regulation, Sacks has described himself as taking a middle road of techno-realism. 'Technology is going to happen. Trying to stop it is like ordering the tides to stop. If we don't do it, somebody else will,' Sacks said on the All-In podcast. On Tuesday, 95 groups including labor unions, parent groups, environmental justice organizations and privacy advocates signed a resolution opposing Trump's embrace of industry-driven AI policy and calling for a 'People's AI Action Plan' that would 'deliver first and foremost for the American people.' Amba Kak, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, which helped lead the effort, said the coalition expects Trump's plan to come 'straight from Big Tech's mouth.' 'Every time we say, 'What about our jobs, our air, water, our children?' they're going to say, 'But what about China?'' she said in a call with reporters Tuesday. She said Americans should reject the White House's argument that the industry is overregulated and fight to preserve 'baseline protections for the public' as AI technology advances. Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.


Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business Insider
Google (GOOGL) Plans to Pay News Outlets as Part of Its New AI Project
Tech giant Google (GOOGL) is working on a new project that would involve paying news organizations to use their content in artificial intelligence tools, according to a report by Bloomberg. Indeed, the company plans to start with a pilot program that includes about 20 national news outlets. While Google confirmed that it is exploring new types of partnerships and features, it didn't share details about which companies are involved or exactly how the project would work. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. According to sources familiar with the plan, the licensing project is designed for specific AI-related products, although no one has revealed yet what those products are or what terms the deals might include. Nevertheless, this move comes after earlier attempts by Google to support news outlets, such as its $1 billion 'News Showcase' initiative that launched in 2020. That program, which was meant to benefit both publishers and readers, grew to include over 2,300 publications in 22 countries by mid-2023. Separately, Google signed a deal with The Associated Press earlier this year to provide real-time news updates in order to improve search results in its Gemini app. However, publishers have recently become worried that Google's AI features, such as AI Overviews and chatbots, are reducing their web traffic. In fact, a June report by The Wall Street Journal said that this change has led some media companies to rethink their business models and lay off employees. As a result, Google's new licensing move is especially important in order to maintain a good relationship with publishers. Is Google Stock a Good Buy? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 30 Buys and nine Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $206.51 per share implies 8% upside potential.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Google's AI Licensing Deal with 20 News Outlets
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) made a new play with publishers and it could potentially be huge They're kicking off a pilot with around twenty national news outlets to feed licensed articles into their AI features and give publishers a slice of the pie. According to Bloomberg, each partnership will be tailored to specific productsthink AI Overviews or Gemini chatwhich means terms will look different depending on the feature and the outlet. This follows Google's billion?dollar News Showcase launch back in 2020, which now covers more than 2,300 titles in 22 countries. They also struck a real?time feed deal with the Associated Press earlier this year. Why it matters is simple: news sites have watched ad dollars slip away as AI tools and chatbots siphon off clicks. This licensing pilot could create a reliable new revenue stream for publishers while keeping Google's AI fueled by high?quality journalism. We'll be watching closely to see how those first twenty partners shape the program. If it takes off, this could become the blueprint for how tech companies and newsrooms collaborate in the AI era. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data