Google's Gemini AI Gains Personal Data Access Feature, But Still Has Fundamental Limitations
By
Allison Johnson
Kettled twice. Extra chewy, extra trustworthy.
Summary
Google's Gemini AI chatbot has introduced a new 'Personal Intelligence' feature that allows it to access users' personal data from Google services like Gmail, Calendar, Photos, and search history without explicit prompting. The feature is opt-in and in beta, but despite Google's claims of AI superiority, the article reveals that Gemini still struggles with basic tasks and details, making the personal data access seem premature. The article critiques Google's approach, comparing it to Microsoft's Recall feature and questioning whether users should trust Google with such intimate access given the AI's current limitations.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledPersonal Intelligence allows Gemini to reference past conversations and access your data in other Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, Photos, and search history, without you specifically prompting it to look in those sources.
It's entirely opt-in, and you choose which apps Gemini can access and which it can't.
Google's Gemini chatbot can now access your personal information at will, but it still struggles once you get down to the details.
So last week's news that it was enabling something called Personal Intelligence felt like a victory lap.
By lots of metrics, Gemini is winning. It has raced ahead of OpenAI, become scarily good at creating convincing imagery, and even won Apple's business.
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