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Comment by onion2k

8 hours ago

Try “@gmail” in Gemini

I think this is a problem for Google. Most users aren't going to do that unless they're told it's possible. 99% of users are working to a mental model of AI that they learned when they first encountered ChatGPT - the idea that AI is a separate app, that they can talk to and prompt to get outputs, and that's it. They're probably starting to learn that they can select models, and use different modes, but the idea of connecting to other apps isn't something they've grokked yet (and they won't until it's very obvious).

What people see as the featureset of AI is what OpenAI is delivering, not Google. Google are going to struggle to leverage their position as custodians of everyone's data if they can't get users to break out of that way of thinking. And honestly, right now, Google are delivering lots of disparate AI interfaces (Gemini, Opal, Nano Banana, etc) which isn't really teaching users that it's all just facets of the same system.

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onion2k

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troupo  4 hours ago

> I think this is a problem for Google. Most users aren't going to do that unless they're told it's possible.

Google is telling this in about a hundred different popups and inline hints when you use any of its products

  • onion2k  3 hours ago

    I've use the Gemini app on my phone a fair bit recently and I've not seen it. That said, I don't think I've seen any popups either. Maybe I've blocked them...