Now Free: Gemini’s Gems Can Help With the Repetitive Stuff You Keep Asking AI

We didn’t talk about Gems in Gemini before because they were only available on paid tiers. However, Gems are now free to use for all Gemini users, and you may want to know about them.

Gems are tools that let you create custom experts for any task within Gemini.

Google says, “The idea behind Gems is to give you an AI chat agent that’s designed to help you exactly how you want it to. For example, you can create a Gem to act as a positive, upbeat running coach who’s made a training plan just for you. Basically, you can give your Gem unique context and revisit this exact AI expert whenever you need it.”

If there’s something you ask Gemini for regularly, you don’t have to keep writing prompts. Just create a Gem, and it will have the prompt and instructions ready to assist you.

Here is an example of how someone could use a Task Simplifier Gem:

• Scenario: You regularly have a complex piece of text or instructions that you need to understand better.
• Gem: Create a “Simplifier” Gem. You can customize it to simplify specific types of information, like legal documents or technical jargon.
• How it works: Feed the Gem the text you want to simplify, and it will provide a more accessible explanation.
• Example: You give your “Simplifier” Gem a paragraph from a legal contract. The Gem could provide a plain language summary of the key terms and conditions.

So, as you can see, specific instructions will get you even more tailored responses. For yet another example, let’s say you are on a job hunt and are preparing for call-ups and the like.

If you want to rehearse interview questions, telling a Career Guide Gem to talk to you like a hiring manager at a law firm could be helpful.

Or, say you’re on the opposite side of the hiring table—you would also benefit from Gems. You would actually benefit more since this will likely be a regular thing for you.

If you need to train new employees, you can tell a Gem to act like a new hire with lots of questions so you can practice your responses.

Setting up Gems

It may not be immediately clear how to actually use these Gems, and Google recommends starting with premade Gems to get a feel for it.

There are five premade options to start: Brainstormer, Career Guide, Coding Partner, Learning Coach, and Writing Editor.

The beauty of it is that you can edit the instructions for a particular Gem if it’s close to what you’re looking for. A Gemini product manager says, “You can make a copy of some of the basic premade Gems, where you can rewrite or add to the pre-filled instructions.”

Further still, since Gemini is an AI assistant already, it can help you write or expand Gem instructions, which should simplify the creation process.

What’s cool about this particular Gem creation process is that it also helps you peek behind the curtain and see the kind of prompts that work best on these AI assistants.

The product manager we talked about above, talking about using Gemini to help create Gems, says, “Not only does it craft comprehensive instructions, but it also helps them learn how to write like a prompt engineer, showcasing what good instructions look like. It’s a great way to get inspiration.”