Google's new proactive feature knows what you want and gets it for you before you ask for it
Imagine having the info you need on your screen before asking for it.
Gemini will soon be more proactive. | Image by PhoneArena
Google is looking to expand the role that Gemini plays on your phone, and I'm here for that. Personal Intelligence was launched by Google earlier this year, and it browses through apps such as Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube (in alphabetical order) to give you responses to your queries that are more personal and relevant to you.
Proactive Assistance appears to be coming soon to Gemini
Now, Google is believed to be working on Proactive Assistance. Gemini will be able to figure out what you are doing and will make some recommendations even before you can ask a question.
Google first talked about having the Pixel 10 series become proactive with the Magic Cue last year. Exclusive to the latest Pixel series because of the capabilities of the Tensor G5 application processor (AP), the Magic Cue knows what you're up to and gives you the information you need when you need it.
Gemini will hand you the information you want before you even ask for it
For example, if your friend texts you wanting you to send him the address for an upcoming event, the Magic Cue can "pull" the address from an email and suggest it as a "Smart Reply" to his text. Android Authority discovered Proactive Assistance when it was looking through version 17.18.22.sa.arm64 of the Google app.
Is being more proactive than reactive important?
Android Authority shared some screenshots of the feature and Google notes that Proactive Assistance uses what is on your screen, including notifications, and apps that you choose, so you can receive recommendations at "the right moment." Besides a big toggle that turns on the feature, you'll also choose which apps Proactive Assistance will work with to pull information from.
This information must be in your hands while it is useful
So to make it clear, users have three sources for the recommendations that are pulled by the feature. The three sources include:
- What is on your phone screen.
- Notifications.
- Apps you have selected to connect with the Proactive Assistance feature.
These apps can include Contacts and Messages, and apps you use for Personal Intelligence such as Gmail and Calendar. You can also decide to get information from other Google Workspace apps such as Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Keep.
Settings menus for the upcoming Proactive Assistance feature.| Image by Android Authority
The goal is for Google to provide users with information like reminders, recommendations, insights, and suggestions to take action. These all need to appear at the moment they are useful, not when you go looking for these things.
For privacy reasons, Google lets you know that data is processed on-device, not via the Cloud. Making it even more secure, the information is "stored inside a private, encrypted space inside your device.
Google also says that "Proactive Assistance doesn’t use your data for generative AI model training or human review."
I've been using Gemini as my assistant on my Pixel 6 Pro for about a year. You might think you know what a digital assistant can do, but if you've limited yourself to old school assistants like Google Assistant (which is being sunset in favor of Gemini) or the current version of Siri, you are still not getting the incredible deep-dive responses you will appreciate with answers from AI Large Language Models (LLM).
AI era for smartphones still in early innings
Siri users have come to expect to be told to visit the web to find the response to their query. With the start of Apple Intelligence, Siri started to ask if you wanted her to hand off your question to ChatGPT for a better, but still limited, AI response. Things could improve as soon as June 8 immediately following the WWDC Keynote with the release of the first iOS 27 Beta.
This is when iPhone users are expected to get their first opportunity to use Siri 2.0, which will make a full-fledged chatbot out of Siri. Thanks to its $1 billion a year deal with Google, Apple will give Siri access to a custom 1.2 trillion parameter Gemini model that some have compared to giving Siri a brain transplant.
The AI era for smartphones is still in the early innings, and already the next tier of assistants is going to give us recommendations, suggestions, and insights even before we ask for help. Imagine what we will be able to do with AI on our phones as we get to the latter innings.
Popular stories
Latest News
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: