A look at how Google's AI will function while you're behind the wheel with Patrick Brady, VP of Android for Cars.
This week, Google's Gemini made the inevitable leap as the company announced its advanced AI assistant will arrive in Android Auto in the coming months. Cars running Android Auto built into the system will receive the update later this year.
In an exclusive interview on the most recent episode of Android Faithful, Jason and Flo spoke with Patrick Brady, the vice president of Android for Cars at Google, about how Gemini's interaction with the dash will fundamentally change how we interact with our vehicles, even in cars sporting first-generation Android Auto hardware. Here's a summary of what was covered.
While Android Auto has relied on Google Assistant for years, Gemini's contextual capabilities could help facilitate more natural interactions behind the wheel. Brady explained how once-familiar tasks will feel completely different:
"If I'm looking for restaurants along my route, in the past, you could just say, 'Find me restaurants along my route,' or maybe, 'Find me Mexican restaurants along my route.' With Gemini, you could say, 'I'm getting a little hungry. Can you find me a good burrito place along my route?' It'll give you some answers. And then you can go back and say, 'Actually, are there any that have good vegetarian options?'"
This conversational approach extends to messaging as well. Instead of dictating every word of a text, you can outline what you want to communicate and let Gemini handle the rest. "I can tell Gemini generally what I want to send, and then it can write the message," said Brady. "Then I can say, 'Make it more apologetic.'"
Google's example of how contextual Maps will work behind the wheel. Credit: Google
One essential element of Gemini in the car will be Gemini Live. The hope is that it could help transform a long, monotonous journey through flatlands into a productive thinking session. "We found in our internal testing that people love using Gemini Live on the go," said Brady. "We found people going to Gemini Live and having a conversation about Roman history or about [planning] a spring break trip to Costa Rica...and just having an ongoing interactive conversation with Gemini Live along their commute."
A sample of what the Gemini Live will look like on Android Auto. Credit: Google
A conversation with Gemini could be fruitful, but not if it comes at the expense of distraction behind the wheel. Brady talked about how that was taken into consideration. "There's been a lot of research done into... cognitive load...what is that doing to your response time and things like that. And that's really important, too, especially if you're using a voice assistant that doesn't understand you. We think one of the really exciting things about the advancements in AI and large language models and what we've done with Gemini, especially in terms of multimodality and understanding and all of these things, is that you can actually talk to it as if it were a passenger sitting in your front seat."
Brady then suggested that more natural interactions could reduce cognitive load compared to struggling with a less capable assistant that requires precise phrasing.
Though basic commands and Gemini Live capabilities will soon be available in Android Auto, there's still more to come down the line. Brady hinted at a future where Gemini could interact with integrated elements of the car, including cameras and other available sensors, to interact with the world outside the vehicle. "Wouldn't it be great if you could say, 'Hey, Gemini. What is that historical marker?" Eventually, Gemini could use its visual understanding capabilities to serve up additional information from the road while you're driving on it.
The good news for current Android Auto users is that Gemini will be accessible through the same familiar triggers you already use. That steering wheel button in Flo and Ron's Subarus? It'll work with Gemini just as it did with Google Assistant.
Brady confirmed that while the initial implementation relies on cloud processing through a connected smartphone, the team is exploring on-device options for the future. "We do want to bring more and more of that processing to be local because, you know, if you're driving and you go through a spot with no connectivity, you'll want to be able to use that on the go as well without relying on a connection to the cloud."
Gemini will be available soon for Android Auto and later this year for cars with Android built-in. Google will be showcasing demonstrations of Gemini in the car at Google I/O, the company's annual developers conference. We'll be on hand to check it out.
What do you think about Gemini coming to Android Auto? Are you excited about having more natural conversations with your car's assistant? Let us know in the comments below!
Stay tuned to Android Faithful for our hands-on impressions from Google I/O next week!
