Google Gemini's Access to Data Across Multiple Apps Is Its Biggest Flaw

Google leverages the theoretical power of generative AI to give Gemini access to data across multiple apps. When it works, this can be very handy.

In a recent article for TechCrunch, Ryan Whitwam penned a compelling piece highlighting the pros and cons of Google's Gemini in its role as a multimodal assistant.

While excited by Gemini's potential to interact with multiple Google apps at its command—for instance, extracting data from an email to be used in another application—Whitwam notes that it often leads to more time being wasted.

He shares an instance where he asked Gemini to extract a shipment tracking number from a recent email, a task he frequently carries out. To his surprise, Gemini appeared to complete the task flawlessly, identifying the correct email and presenting a plausible tracking number. However, upon closer inspection, the number wasn't recognized by Google's search-based tracker, and the US Postal Service website returned an error.

It was then that it hit him—the tracking number was a fabrication. Despite this, the concocted number was remarkably believable; it was approximately the right length and, like all USPS tracking numbers, commenced with nine.

Sadly, no one will be able to get in touch with "the universe" to complain, as it's still not an aspect of Google's AI.

"I could have searched for the tracking number myself in a fraction of the time it took to ferret out Gemini's mistake, which is what makes it so very, very frustrating. Gemini seemed to be blithe in the belief that it had completed the task I assigned to it, but getting angry at the bot wouldn't help; it wouldn't comprehend my fury any more than it understood the essence of my initial request," writes Whitwam.

He continues, "At this juncture, I would gladly trade for Assistant's 'Sorry, I don't understand.'"

This is just one instance in a year of using Gemini where it has performed tasks incorrectly, such as adding calendar events to the wrong day or populating notes with inaccurate information.

To be fair, Gemini usually manages to complete these tasks without error, but its mechanical mind is prone to distraction more often than it should be for a capable assistant.