The Pixel 9 from Google and the extinction of Google Assistant

Truthfully, it seems premature. Gemini is still incapable of managing all the fundamental, task-focused things in which Assistant excels (or at least used to excel). The elements of generative-AI that it introduces into the mix — producing (awkward and robotic) text, crafting (mostly eerie-looking) images, summarizing text (with varying degrees of accuracy), and so forth — are simply not very relevant to the Android helper ecosystem. This doesn’t even address the very valid concerns that still exist regarding the quality, precision, and creativity of the information that the service presents to us.

Furthermore, those same generative-AI elements can now be found in numerous other locations — notably, increasingly, within most Google Android applications — making their integration into your assistant seem surplus and unnecessary. Consequently, in the end, we are gaining very little while sacrificing a great deal.

Consider this: I understand why Google is eager to portray Gemini as the thrilling new essential technological progress that is revolutionizing the landscape of Android and its Pixel gadgets. However, I’m uncertain whether the tool itself is presently equipped to accomplish that objective. Moreover, I’m not completely convinced that it will ever achieve that status.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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