Google’s Gemini AI in the Car Actually Makes Sense When I’m Trying Not to Crash

Google’s Gemini AI is mowing down the age-old Google Assistant as it rushes in to set up shop on Android Auto. Soon, users will be asked to have “conversations” with their car all while they have their hands on 10 and 2. Unlike AI on your phone or smartwatch, Gemini’s true use case could be the car if nothing else than helping you keep your eyes on the road and not on the car’s many distracting screens.

We’ve already seen some of these capabilities at work based on dormant code installed in the latest Android update. Those earlier versions seemed less than helpful since they wouldn’t interact with apps like Google Maps. What Google showed on Tuesday includes a new UI for interacting with the AI through your car. Gemini appears at the bottom of the car’s screen with the typical glowing bottom bezel. Users should be able to ask the chatbot for help in a “conversational” manner without needing to use the specific prompts that Google’s previous voice assistant required.

The best example of this is from a video where Google asks Gemini for help finding a place to eat while on the road. Google’s AI should be able to connect with Google Maps and show you a list of potential destinations. The driver then asked the AI for reviews about one of the eateries and received a summary based on user reviews. As somebody who has been in the situation when I needed to find a gas station on a cross-state drive without taking a several-mile detour off the nearest exit, Gemini at least offers an inkling of a far safer alternative to fiddling with a phone or display.

Google promoted a few other features in its blog, including the ability to send messages over voice to a friend and have those messages automatically translated into a different language (there are 40 languages available currently). Gemini will also connect with YouTube Music and Spotify, along with Gmail and Messages, for hands-free, eyes-free texting. If these features help you ignore the screen that car manufacturers are obsessed with sticking in place of every dashboard and previously manual control, then it’s a boon to drivers.

What may be more distracting is the Gemini Live integration with your car. If you tell your car, “Hey Google, let’s talk,” you’ll bring up the Live interface that will let you hold a “conversation” with the AI. Perhaps the AI will be helpful at calming down my road rage as I get stuck behind yet another accident on New York’s Belt Parkway, or it may end up the target of my ire.

The features should come to users’ devices “in the coming months” but will be available to cars with Google built-in after that. Google plans to show off these features at its Google I/O set to begin May 20. We already knew that Google was planning to add support for some games in the car, but the Android maker said it wanted to add more support for video as well. These features should only work when you’re parked, and they could prove a handy distraction for rowdy kids in the backseat. Still, if it emphasizes companies sticking even more screens in cars, the trade-off isn’t going to be worth it.