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If you’re just starting to use Google’s Gemini, you might not realize how much you can do with it. It’s more knowledgeable than Google Assistant, which often struggles to answer even basic questions. Thanks to recent advances in generative artificial intelligence, Gemini can answer any question under the sun. With endless potential available to us, let’s take a look at some of the best Gemini tips you can use to get the most value from your chatbot.
1. Use Gemini as an advanced translator
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While Google Translate has served most of us well for over a decade, it hasn’t always done a perfect job. Case in point: While using Google Translate to travel across Southeast Asia, I often struggled to translate short texts. Single words on restaurant menus are the most problematic because the app can’t understand the context of the word—the same word can mean dandruff or a piece of meat, depending on where and how it’s used.
Gemini doesn’t suffer from the same pitfalls because its training process involves scanning hundreds of gigabytes of text in various languages. This enables it to understand nuance and context. And according to Google’s past technical papers, the language model often performs better than Google Translate in standardized tests and benchmarks. So the next time you need to translate content in a complex foreign language like Japanese, give Google’s chatbot a try.
Gemini prompts are also very simple for this use case. Just type “Translate the following text into English” and copy the text you need translated.
2. Generate images
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Did you know that you can ask Gemini to create AI-generated art for free? Granted, the feature isn’t perfect, as it has recently caused controversy for generating overly diverse images. But if you generate fictional or artistic images and don’t care about historical accuracy, it should still perform well enough. It’s certainly a convenient alternative to many other AI image generators that require some form of payment.
To ask Gemini to create an AI-generated image, send a prompt that begins with “Create an image of…” followed by a vivid text description of the artwork you want to create. The more details you include, the better the results will be.
3. Plan a trip
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When planning a vacation, I typically use several Google services, such as Flights and Maps. Then, after selecting the best options and routes, I proceed to create the itinerary in the form. But thanks to Gemini Extensions, I no longer need to perform these steps individually or manually. The chatbot can interact with various Google services on its own.
You first need to enable the Gemini extension via set up > Expand menu. For travel planning purposes, I recommend choosing the Google Flights, Hotels, Workspace, and Maps extensions.
Finally, enter a tip like “Find me the cheapest one-way flights to Tokyo in May.” Google already knows your current location, but I did it anyway in the screenshot above. Another Gemini tip you can try is “Plan a five-day trip to Tokyo with suggestions for flights and hotels under $200.”
4. Summarize long YouTube videos
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Do you prefer reading to watching videos? Me too, I find that Gemini can be a valuable tool in bridging this gap. Whenever I encounter a long video, I copy the URL into a new Gemini prompt and ask the chatbot to create a summary. Or like I did in the screenshot above, ask questions based on the content of the video. This feature comes in handy if you’ve already watched a video once and only need to refer to it again to get a small piece of information.
When you send a YouTube link, Gemini doesn’t actually watch the entire video. Instead, it reads the transcript attached to the video and summarizes the text or uses it as a reference to answer your questions. Most English-language content has automatically generated or user-uploaded subtitles, so Gemini will likely handle the vast majority of YouTube content.
5. Let Gemini interpret the image
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Gemini
Having trouble interpreting abstract art or need advice on how to redecorate your living space? In recent weeks, I’ve asked Gemini to perform both tasks, and the results have been impressive. As you can see in the screenshot above, Gemini correctly surmised that the four framed art pieces in my photo represented the passing of the seasons.
Gemini’s underlying language model is multimodal, meaning it can interpret non-textual content such as images and videos. The only mainstream language model with similar visual capabilities is GPT-4, but you have to pay for ChatGPT Plus to access it. Meanwhile, with Gemini, both free and paid users can upload images.
To upload an image next to a text prompt, simply click the “Upload Image” icon embedded in the chat box. Then, ask a follow-up question in the Gemini prompt, such as “What is this piece of art trying to convey?” or “How can you redecorate this space without spending too much on new furniture?”
6. Let Gemini be your coding companion
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Gemini
Since its release, Google has significantly enhanced Gemini’s ability to read and write code. In fact, recent updates even allow you to run Python code directly within the chatbot’s interface. You need a Gemini Advanced subscription, but even without it, anyone can ask it to create templates, debug errors, or even convert multiple lines of code from one programming language to another.
When comparing Gemini vs. ChatGPT, I found that Google’s chatbot was able to deliver working code as consistently as its competitors. Additionally, Gemini can search the Internet for the latest information, while ChatGPT’s free tier has strict knowledge limits. This difference alone can help the chatbot generate more accurate code or find the latest solution to a bug.