I abandoned ChatGPT in favor of Gemini and have mixed feelings

When ChatGPT was launched, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon. I’ve been using it since then, but recently decided to switch to Twins for several reasons. Firstly, I like to try new things just to see what the competition has to offer. But more importantly, Gemini extensions promised seamless integration with the Google ecosystem, which offered the hope of simplifying my workflow and saving me time. Or so I thought.

Gemini Expansions: Game Changers?

For those of you who don’t know, Gemini Expansions work with Google services such as Gmail, Maps, Tasks and many others. Their power lies in their ability to save time, allowing me to quickly retrieve specific files from Gmail without manual searching, ask how long it takes to get from point A to point B without opening Google Maps, and even play music to help me focus. without leaving the chatbot interface.

Sounds great, right? That’s true—at least when it works. Of course, in most cases this works. But the problem is that I run into problems often enough to ask myself if it’s worth it. Gemini’s suggestion to download a specific file does save time, but if it doesn’t do its job correctly and I have to ask it three more times to get the job done, it’s easier and less tedious to search for it manually.

Let’s look at a few problems I encountered so you can better understand what I’m talking about. Gemini couldn’t view the last email I received in Gmail for the life of me. Even when I told him it was wrong and he needed to look again, he still couldn’t do it. I went further and even reported the day and time the letter was received, but Gemini still failed and sent me another, older letter.

I also had problems asking Gemini to look at the last email I received from a specific sender and tell me what it was about. When he discovered the sender, the date and time were incorrect, as was the content of the letter. It stated that the email was a confirmation of purchase, although there was nothing of the sort. It’s worth pointing out again that this doesn’t always happen, but it happens often enough to be a problem.

I understand that Geminis are like others chatbots with artificial intelligence – makes mistakes. Google is also clear that Gemini may be wrong. However, I just find it strange that Google’s chatbot can’t do simple tasks like this, but it has no problem with more complex tasks, like telling me how much I paid for a hotel in Spain 10 years ago. It found the correct email address among thousands of my Gmail emails and flawlessly retrieved all the information in a few seconds.

But Gmail integration isn’t the only problem: I also had problems with Google Maps. When I was asked how long it takes to travel from point A to point B in a particular city, he gave the correct information and showed me the directions on the map. Wonderful. But when I then asked how long it would take to complete the same route, for reasons unknown to me, he changed point A to my home address, which is about 35 miles away. Thus, the duration of the walk, which should have been less than 30 minutes, ended up being more than 10 hours. Even with a few extra hints, I was unable to get Gemini to fix this error.

There are other things Gemini can’t do, some of which Google clearly states on its website. However, they seem like simple tasks that a chatbot should be able to do at this point, given everything else it can do.

For example, I can’t find the renewal date for my Gemini Advanced subscription (Google One AI Premium plan) in my Google account, so I asked Gemini about it. It would seem like a fairly simple task, but apparently it is impossible to accomplish. It also can’t tell me how much Drive space I have left or view my latest photo from Google Photos.

However, he can plan a seven-day trip to London, show me the best flights available, and help me find hotels in my desired price range. Thus, it can solve very complex problems, but sometimes fails at simple ones.

Not at the moment. When it comes to general usage, ChatGPT and Gemini are on par, at least in my case. However, there are things that ChatGPT Plus does better than Gemini Advanced. For example, it can summarize the stock market results for the previous day, as well as the profit/loss %, not only for the selected company, but even for the ten largest companies in the S&P 500, if I ask about it too. Geminis can’t do this. However, for now I find more use in the extensions Google offers, which are good as long as they work.

So, a word of caution: If extensions are the reason you’re considering switching or trying out the free version of Gemini, prepare for a few problems. As mentioned, they do a good job most of the time, but are far from perfect.

Although I have faced some challenges, I am not giving up on Gemini just yet. AI is constantly evolving and I believe these issues will be resolved and new features will be added soon. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.