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How to use Gemini (formerly Google Bard): Everything you should know
At the same time that new artificial intelligence (AI) tools dominated headlines with their innovative ideas and captivating abilities, Google's creation was gaining attention for entirely different reasons. Bard's initial performance was found lacking on more than one occasion. From its abysmal opening debut to its official launch, users struggled to get the chatbot to provide accurate information or follow a conversation without hallucinating.
Google has improved Bard significantly since then, including renaming it Gemini, a namesake of the large language model (LLM) powering it, Gemini Pro. The Bard from a year ago isn't the Gemini you access today, although it still has its blunders. Now, Gemini can hold helpful conversations that rival ChatGPT, generate images, and provide a smooth integration with Google Workspace.
Also: How to use ChatGPT to create an app
Gemini is now a pretty good assistive AI chatbot; it's a generative AI tool that can generate text for everything from cover letters and homework to computer code and Excel formulas, question answers, and detailed translations. Like ChatGPT, Gemini uses AI to provide human-like conversational responses when prompted.
How to use Gemini (formerly Google Bard)
1. Go to the Gemini website & log in
To start using Google's chatbot, visit the Gemini homepage at gemini.google.com and log in to your Google account.
2. Get familiar with the Gemini chat window
You'll be taken to the chat window once you log in. Like other popular AI chatbots available for widespread use, the Gemini chat window has been optimized to be user-friendly and easy to navigate.
Also: How to use ChatGPT: Everything you need to know
Here's what you'll find when you open the Gemini window (pictured below):
- Main menu: A menu icon in the top-left corner to hide the menu.
- New chat: The top option on the menu to the left side of the window will clear the current conversation and start a new one.
- Help: If you struggle to use Google's AI-powered tool, click Help & Support to reach Gemini Help or send feedback.
- Settings: You can change the Gemini theme to dark or light in Settings and see and manage any links to chats you've created.
- Activity: Your conversations with Gemini aren't saved, but your prompts are. Clicking Gemini Activity on the left will open a new tab with your prompt history.
- Text area: You can enter your questions or prompts at the bottom of the screen and hit enter or click Submit on the right to send them.
- Upload image: To the left of the text area, an Upload Image option lets you explore Google Lens integration with Gemini. You can add images and ask Gemini questions about them.
- Microphone: Gemini lets you dictate your prompts by clicking on the microphone within the text area.
- Conversation: Your interaction with Gemini will appear at the center of the chat window. After the AI chatbot replies to your queries, you'll see that you can view other drafts for each response and give a thumbs up or down to provide feedback. You also have the option to refresh for a new answer, select it, copy it to your clipboard, or report it.
- Listen: You can listen to Gemini's response instead of reading it. Clicking on the speaker will make Gemini read its response out loud.
- Edit: You'll see an Edit button next to your prompt in the chat window. This button allows you to edit your prompt to get a new answer, which can be useful if you realize you need to be more specific but don't want to rewrite your whole prompt.
Also: 4 Apple AI features that ChatGPT already offers (and two more that are coming soon)
Menu in the top-right corner:
- Extensions: Gemini can handle extensions that enable it to connect with YouTube, Google Maps, flights, and hotels to provide richer responses.
- Google Apps: Since you're logged in to your Google account to use Gemini, you can access Google Apps next to Settings.
- Account: Your Google account is accessible in the window's top-right corner.
Here's what the chat window looks like before sending any prompts.
3. Start writing your prompts
At this point, you're ready to start using Google's Gemini chatbot. Just enter your query in the text area and send it to the chatbot to see (or hear) its response.
Here's an example of a response from Gemini.
4. Create images with Gemini
You can also ask Gemini to create images, just like you can with ChatGPT Plus and Microsoft Copilot (aka Bing Chat). Write your prompt for Gemini to generate the image in the same chat window.
I'm asking Gemini to "create an image for a social media post of a plate of food to advertise a Caribbean food festival."
5. Download your image or regenerate
After Gemini generates an image (or two), you can download it, ask it to regenerate it, or send another prompt to create a different image.
Also: I just tried Google's ImageFX AI image generator, and I'm shocked at how good it is
I clicked on the image I liked most to download it. As a person born and raised in the Caribbean, this image looks pretty good for local food. AI-generated images can be vague around small details, but the meal still looks tasty.
FAQ
What can I ask Gemini (formerly Google Bard)?
The Gemini AI chatbot can answer most questions you ask, since it uses search tools from Google. Gemini's AI-based answers can serve many purposes, from giving you recipes to helping you debug code.
Also: How to write better ChatGPT prompts (and this applies to most other text-based AIs, too)
Here are some examples of prompts you can ask the bot:
- Write two to-do lists, one for daily household cleaning and another for maintenance
- Write a ---- plugin that does -----
- What is at the center of the Earth?
- Write a poem for a trashbag that fell in love with a reusable water bottle
- Define XML
As with all AI chatbots, it's important to refrain from giving Gemini any personally identifiable information or private data you don't want shared. Even if generative AI tools say they are private, don't use your personal information to test that claim.
Does Gemini provide inaccurate answers?
When Gemini was announced as Bard last year, it faced scrutiny after making factual mistakes. Users have subsequently wondered whether Google's chatbot continues to provide inaccurate or inappropriate responses and whether it can be trusted, as some have come to trust other AI tools.
Also: How does ChatGPT actually work?
Google has reiterated that Gemini is an experiment capable of making mistakes. The company upgraded Gemini to use its latest-generation LLM, Gemini Pro, after launching the AI chatbot with its earlier model, LaMDA, and then updating it to PaLM 2. The company has also upgraded the user experience significantly through integrations with Gmail, Google Maps, Googl Lens, and more.
Gemini had new issues with hallucinations in late May after a pretty significant update, which prompted Google to scale back some of its AI tools, like AI Overviews in search results.
Having tested Gemini often during the past year, I believe it's a pretty good AI chatbot. It offers a similar experience to ChatGPT and Copilot. It's worth noting that all AI chatbots can provide inaccurate information, make mistakes, and hallucinate.
Does Gemini save my conversations?
Google doesn't save your entire interaction each time you chat with its chatbot, but it does save the prompts and questions you've asked. That being said, as a search engine, Google is known for being one of the largest trackers in the world, so giving its chatbot private information is probably not a great idea.
Also: How to use ChatGPT Plus: From GPT-4o to interactive tables
Does Gemini use GPT-4?
Gemini uses Gemini Pro, Google's proprietary LLM, instead of OpenAI's GPT series, the technology many popular AI chatbots use.
Will Gemini replace Google Search?
Gemini and other AI chatbots, such as Bing Chat (aka Copilot) and ChatGPT, can potentially replace search engines. These AI tools are trained on information available on the web to answer users' queries. Instead of giving them a list of websites where that answer may or may not be found, these tools generate a textual response conversationally. The drawback is that these answers may not always be accurate.
Also: How to share your location on Android: 3 ways that also work with iPhones
Some people might use AI chatbots instead of Google Search, especially since the added abilities of asking follow-up questions and generating text make it more functional for some use cases than a search engine. I always recommend AI bot users to fact-check the information they get from these tools.
Does Gemini (formerly Google Bard) have a waitlist?
For months after its launch, Gemini was only accessible through a waitlist. But in May 2023, Google announced during its Google I/O event it was ending the waitlist access program and opening its new AI tool to over 180 countries and territories. Now, anyone who logs in with their Google account can access Gemini.