From running coach to sous-chef, Google wants its flagship generative AI model, Gemini, to wear a lot of different hats. A new feature called “Gems” helps users mold the system into these various expert personas with a few simple baseline instructions and a name.

The search giant bills these AI specialists as “teammates for each area of your life,” whether that’s at work or in your free time. But how well do these AI “experts” actually perform? We created a few to put them to the test.

First announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May and rolled out in late August, the feature comes as tech giants have been jockeying to find compelling use cases that can justify the billions they have been pouring into infrastructure build-out for the next generation of AI. Companies have also been heralding agents—or task-specific instances of foundation models that can take actions beyond chatbots—as a new era in the generative AI race.

Google is not the first to offer these kinds of capabilities: OpenAI debuted a similar custom GPT feature late last year that lets users build out their own versions of ChatGPT and even offer them to others in a GPT store.

One of Google’s big advantages here should presumably be its search functionality, given that it’s the company’s bread and butter. And the Gems do indeed synthesize responses from an array of cited links, whereas GPT relies on Microsoft’s Bing and OpenAI’s media partnerships. But sometimes using the “experts” didn’t feel much different than performing a simple Google search.

Keep reading here.—PK

The pesky phenomenon of range anxiety—the concern that an EV doesn’t have enough battery power to reach its destination—persists.

A new partnership from Lyft and connected-car platform Smartcar aims to soothe the anxieties of ride-hail drivers and riders.

This month, they debuted “Rides in Range,” a new feature in Lyft’s app that ensures drivers only get ride requests within their EV’s battery range. The feature also sends drivers alerts when battery levels dip below 20%.

Lyft and Smartcar touted the tool as a way to ensure that Lyft drivers don’t have to turn down trips due to concerns about battery range. “Range anxiety is the top concern for EV drivers on the platform, as they want to avoid interrupting trips to charge or being unable to find chargers during a ride,” according to a news release.

“At Lyft, we’re all about making life easier for drivers on our platform, and we know that range anxiety is a big deal for those with electric vehicles,” Ciara Chow, Lyft’s senior product manager, said in a statement. “Now, our drivers can take on rides without constantly worrying about their battery levels.”

Sahas Katta, Smartcar CEO and co-founder, told Tech Brew that passengers sometimes end up tagging along while the driver charges their vehicle, creating an unnecessary delay.

“It’s not just a benefit for the driver,” he said, “but it’s also going to make passengers a lot more excited and comfortable to book a ride with an electric car on these platforms.”

Keep reading here.—JG

Whatever the actual extent of AI-generated political content may be, the rise of deepfakes has made people much more skeptical of election-related media online.

A new survey from Adobe found that nearly three-quarters of respondents have questioned the authenticity of photos and videos from reputable news sites because misinformation is perceived to be running rampant. More than four in 10 reported being misled by election-related falsehoods in the past three months, and 43% said they are less likely to trust content around the election online.

The enterprise software giant commissioned the research in support of its own Content Authenticity Initiative, a coalition of companies working to establish a credentialing system that serves as an industry standard for labeling unaltered content.

The survey comes as the US is in the home stretch of the so-called AI election, the country’s first presidential race in which generative AI might play a significant role. While sizing up the actual scope of that impact can be tricky, Adobe seems to have identified a widespread cratering of trust in online media.

Keep reading here.—PK