Patrick O'Rourke is XDA's News Editor and Entertainment Segment Lead. Previously, he was Pocket-lint's Editor-in-Chief, the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian tech publication MobileSyrup, and earlier in his career, he worked as the technology editor at the Financial Post and Postmedia. He's based in Toronto.
Over the past 15 years, he's written thousands of articles. Patrick has also interviewed dozens of tech industry executives and covered GDC, E3, Gamescom, WWDC, Apple keynotes, Samsung Unpacked events and more.
Patrick has a BA in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Summary
- Gemini's Personal Intelligence lets Android Auto use information from Gmail, Calendar, Photos, and Search to give personalized information while you're driving.
- You can ask natural voice prompts in the car, like finding flights, navigating to appointments, or using photos for directions.
- The rollout starts now, so the update should hit your Android device soon.
Google is making Gemini suck a little less when you use the AI assistant in Android Auto.
According to the tech giant, Gemini now features Personal Intelligence, allowing the AI assistant to better tailor its answers to the Google apps you already use, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Photos, YouTube, and Search. Additionally, you'll be able to speak more naturally to Gemini with Android Auto and cars with Google Built-in, including brainstorming with the AI assistant, something that, as weird as it sounds, I've actually done while on long drives with ChatGPT's CarPlay integration.
The tech giant says that Gemini requires "your permission" for personal intelligence to access your information through Google's suite of apps. An example Google highlights is asking what your flight gate is on your way to the airport, and whether your flight is on time (I can actually see myself doing this). Another is finding an indoor restaurant on your route that matches your "usual vibe," which is somewhat hilarious (Gemini would just send me to McDonald's).
You can say things as simple as "Take me to my doctor's appointment," and Gemini will pull the address information from your email and presumably open Google Maps or Waze for you. You can also pull addresses from photos, which seems a bit wild. The example Google gives is asking Gemini to "Find the car wash from the photo I took last week and navigate there." Thanks to Personal Intelligence, Gemini scrolls through your camera roll, finds the photo, and then figures out the name and directions.
Using Gemini with Android Auto hasn't been a great experience so far
Google's big Android Auto redesign is still coming
Google says Personal Intelligence is rolling out today, so it should hit your Android device soon. On the user end, make sure Personal Intelligence is enabled on your device under Gemini's options, and it will come with you into your car once you start Android Auto.
All of this sounds great, but it's the type of feature I really need to try out for myself. Gemini's integration into Android Auto hasn't been great so far, whether it's the long-winded responses, inconsistent handling of commands, or unnecessary follow-up questions, Google's AI assistant is often pretty annoying when I'm driving. On top of that, Google Home routines still don't work well with Android Auto in Gemini.
In other Android Auto-related news, Google recently revealed a comprehensive plan to turn Android Auto into a slicker, more cohesive in-car platform, complete with a Material 3 Expressive redesign of core apps. The update should arrive sometime this fall, but it hasn't appeared yet.