Google just made a huge AI announcement:
Google Bard is now called Google Gemini—and you can now buy Gemini Advanced, a paid subscription that gives you access to Gemini Ultra, Google’s most powerful model.
What do you need to know about the name change and this powerful new AI tool?
On Episode 83 of The Artificial Intelligence Show, I got the answers from Marketing AI Institute founder/CEO Paul Roetzer.
Bard isn’t going away. Its name is simply changing to Gemini and the URL for Bard—bard.google.com—now redirects to gemini.google.com. You can still use a version of the tool for free.
Gemini Advanced is a monthly paid subscription that costs $19.99 per month. With Gemini Advanced, you get access to Gemini Ultra 1.0, Google’s most powerful model. Google says Gemini Advanced “is far more capable at reasoning, following instructions, coding, and creative inspiration.”
Gemini Advanced is a GPT-4 competitor. AI expert Ethan Mollick, who’s had beta access to Gemini Advanced for a month, says it’s “clearly a GPT-4 class model.”
Google is renaming Bard to Gemini in order to simplify its naming conventions. That’s a good thing, because they’re confusing.
There are three models in Google’s “family” of Gemini models. Gemini Nano, Gemini Pro, and Gemini Ultra.
Nano is the smallest model and designed to operate right on smartphone devices without communicating with the cloud. Pro is the model that powers Gemini, which used to be called Bard. Ultra is the model available when you sign up for a Gemini Advanced subscription. Once you do, you just go to gemini.google.com and select Gemini Advanced to use it.
Our early tests show that Gemini Advanced, using Gemini Ultra, is indeed impressive. Though you won’t find anything too different here if you already use ChatGPT Plus. It has a similar interface and capabilities.
“The main differentiator right now seems to be that you can connect it to Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google, Maps, Google Workspace, and YouTube,” says Roetzer.
If you do want to experiment, Google is currently offering two months of the Gemini Advanced subscription for free. After that, you pay $19.99 per month.
When you get started with Gemini Advanced, it’s important to note the privacy policies, says Roetzer. Google is quite clear that your information is shared with the company.
They even mention when you sign up: “Your conversations are processed by human reviewers to improve the technologies powering Gemini Apps. Don’t enter anything you wouldn’t want reviewed or used.”
Right now, Gemini Advanced isn’t going to replace any of your existing tools. But it’s a worthy addition to the mix.
“I will actually go through and have Gemini Advanced, ChatGPT, and Perplexity open at once. I will often give the same prompt to all three of them. And see on an ongoing basis how they perform against each other in certain scenarios,” says Roetzer.