Google I/O has come and gone—at least the main keynote address. Unlike past years, there weren’t too many groundbreaking features announced; rather, the event was mostly focused on Google’s general plans for Gemini and AI going forward.
Those plans include Android as well. Google announced it would be sharing all the details about Android 15 on Wednesday, but during I/O’s inaugural event today, the company did note some general AI changes coming to Android devices.
Circle to Search for homework
Circle to Search isn’t a brand new feature; Google rolled it out earlier this year, as a way for users to start a search for elements on-screen by circling them.
During today’s announcement, however, Google did show off a new feature for Circle to Search: homework help. The tool now recognizes long problems, and can walk students through how to solve them. Say you have a complex math problem in front of you: Circle it, and Gemini will break down the process for you. Sure, the answer is included, but so is the reasoning, so it can be a tool for learning how to solve future problems rather than simply a way to cheat on your homework.
Gemini is now “context aware”
Google was very excited to announce that Gemini is now “context aware” on Android. What they mean by that is Gemini will recognize what you’re currently doing on your phone or tablet when you call up the assistant, and take that into account when returning a result for your query.
In an on-stage example, a demonstrator was in a conversation with a friend who asked if they wanted to play pickleball. The demonstrator jokingly asked if pickleball was playing tennis with a pickle, then pulled up Gemini inside the chat to create a meme of a pickle playing tennis. The friend then sent over a video on how to play pickleball: The demonstrator asked Gemini a question about the game, and, since the AI understood the demonstrator was watching a video, it searched the video for the answer rather than the web at large.
AI for scam prevention
This was my favorite feature of the entire event. Google showed off how Gemini can analyze your phone calls as they’re happening, and warn you of a potential scam. It’s not subtle, either: The demo involved a call from someone impersonating a bank, claiming the demonstrator had suspicious charges on their account. When the demonstrator asked what the charges were and the caller said they couldn’t say over the phone, the phone instantly started buzzing, and an alert appeared warning of the potential scam.
I would love if companies like Google took this idea and ran with it. Scams are so prevalent in digital life already, and they are only getting worse with the rise of generative AI. If companies can use AI technology to fight back against AI scams too, all the better.
Android 15 news is coming tomorrow
Again, this is simply a short list of Gemini features coming to Android in general—not the entire list of changes coming with Android 15. More Android feature news is coming tomorrow, per Google, so keep your eyes open for that.
