This is the script of my national radio report yesterday on how
Google is pushing their Gemini AI onto user devices -- and more --
in invasive ways, without asking permission or sometimes even
informing users that this has occurred. As always my report may have
had some minor wording variations from this script as it was presented
live on air.
- - -
Well, I wish I could really explain what's going on with Google and
their Gemini AI, but frankly, the whole situation is so confusing,
that all I can really do is kinda give a heads-up warning here and
suggest that if you care about this matter you pay very close
attention to what's happening with your interactions with Google on
the desktop, on Android devices, and ultimately I expect on other
devices too including iOS devices like iPhones, and probably Windows
also at some point.
We've talked in the past about how Big Tech is ramming AI down our
throats whether we want it or not, and how upsetting this is to so
many people, and now Google has really jumped the shark as the saying
goes. They seem to have given up any pretense of asking for permission
before turning users into data delivery systems to feed the voracious
appetite of their Gemini AI.
Basically, Google is in the process of pushing Gemini into pretty much
everything that Google can control. Some classes of Gmail already have
it in place to do "summarizations" of Gmail messages, however
inaccurate we can expect those to often be given Gemini's record of
spewing misinformation. Apparently the only way to turn that off may
be to turn off all Gmail Smart Features through the Gmail settings and
even then I don't know if that just hides the interface or actually
stops Gemini from reading your email. Obviously in order to flag spam
and malware, for example, Gmail has long needed to scan email, but
Gemini is a whole 'nuther kettle of fish, and understanding whether or
not any given generative AI connected application is or is not
training on your data isn't necessarily simple to figure out or
control.
Google has already replaced the traditional Google Assistant with
Gemini on many devices, and that means you lose traditional
Assistant's telling you where it got its answers from, and in fact
Gemini apparently has been breaking many users' routines because it
currently can't accomplish every action that traditional Assistant
can. For now you can switch back if you can find the Assistant setting
deep within the Google settings on your device, but this seems to
often vary from device to device, so trying to do that can be a new
hobby.
Google has now decided they want to pull data from various of the apps
on your phone into Gemini and while some users received a very
confusing email about this, actually it seems to have begun without
any affirmative permission being asked of users. You can dig around in
app settings and try to disable this, and you sometimes can remove the
Gemini app from your phone if Google or you installed it from the
Google app store -- the Play Store -- but sometimes it can't be easily
removed and even after being removed the related settings may persist.
And we can be sure that traditional Assistant will be terminated
fairly soon, and in fact I believe later this year Google is
terminating that Assistant on all Google Home devices as well.
And that's about all I have on this right now, because the entire
situation is a confused train wreck and with so many variations
between devices it's just impossible to get very specific regarding
solutions.
If you're happy with the Gemini AI integrations then you don't really
need to do anything except enjoy them, But if that's not your
feeling -- and it certainly isn't mine -- we can be excused I think for
wondering if Google is making this so confusing on purpose or if it's
just a terrible consequence of their panicky push to get AI into
everything, and not be left behind the other Big Tech firms who are
trying to do much the same thing.
Google used to generally be pretty good about asking permission from
users before making changes that might be considered controversial.
But that was the old Google, not today's Google where it's all about
AI and if you don't want their AI in many aspects of your life, you're
just a user who they consider to be a loser -- and that's very sad.
- - -
L
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
[email protected] (https://www.vortex.com/lauren)
Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren
Signal: By request on need to know basis
Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org
PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility
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