What is replacing Google's Gemini Gems?

Google announced it's shutting down the Gemini feature known as 'Gems', which had allowed users to build custom AI assistants for specific tasks. However, the work users invested in creating the Gems won't be destroyed. Gems will be automatically migrated to 'skills' that can be used across different AI tasks.

How will the transition from Gems to skills work?

Details about the change are being shared in the Gemini app, where a message warns users that Gems will become skills starting on November 17, 2026. The company said it will migrate the Gems to the new format, so users won't have to do anything to make the transition. The Gems themselves will remain usable until then.

Launched in 2024, Gems were meant to help users teach their AI to perform certain tasks without having to repeat the instructions. For instance, some of Google's pre-made Gems had included a learning coach, a brainstorming assistant, a career guide, a coding partner, and an editor. Users could also make Gems for their own needs, like a running coach, nutritionist, or vacation planner. These custom assistants could also be shared with others, which Google had hoped would help make its Gemini AI app more popular.

The news of Gems' shutdown is another example of why Google shouldn't be so quick to give every new AI feature its own brand name, icon, and prominent placement in its app's navigation — especially if it's going to shuffle things around over time, merging one feature into another. Yet, even as skills, the former Gems still aren't as consumer-friendly as just typing in text to a chatbot like Meta's Muse. Instead, Google notes you'll have to enter a forward slash '/' in a task thread to select the skill you want to use — a user interface that engineers, not regular folks, tend to prefer.

Gems' wind-down was first reported over the weekend by 9to5Google. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, Google's move to replace Gems with skills highlights the importance of answer engine optimization (AEO) for AI tools for user experience, a concept that has been referred to as 'answer engine optimization (AEO)' in the context of AI search optimization.

Cet article a été rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA.
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