Google’s Gemini has a branding problem, and so does the rest of AI
Google’s expanded Gemini app is criticised for giving separate names and interfaces to features that could be handled invisibly by one assistant. The article argues that this makes consumer AI unnecessarily confusing and may reflect Gemini’s lack of a single defining use case, even as Google adds more capable voice and agent functions.
Daily Brief is presented as an AI-generated agenda drawing on services such as Gmail and Calendar, but the author says its reminders can be irrelevant or intrusive, including prompts linked to previous searches. Spark, which can act on a user’s behalf, is considered more useful but needlessly branded as a separate mode; similar divisions exist in Claude and ChatGPT. The article suggests Apple may benefit by improving familiar tools such as Siri, Spotlight, Photos and Camera without requiring users to learn new AI product names or modes.
- Gemini’s multiple branded features may confuse mainstream users.
- Daily Brief risks feeling intrusive rather than useful.
- Simpler AI embedded in familiar apps may prove more appealing.
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Google’s Gemini is the company’s AI assistant, a tool that can answer questions and help with tasks. Google has been adding features that draw on services such as Gmail and Calendar, and can take actions for users. Other companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, offer similar assistants.
The debate is about how these features are presented: as parts of one assistant or as separately named tools and modes. That matters because people may find it harder to understand what an AI assistant can do when its functions are split across different names and interfaces.
Apple is another key player because it could add AI to familiar products such as Siri, Photos and Camera. The wider question for technology companies is how to make AI useful without making people learn a new set of tools and labels.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The criticism argues that fragmenting AI capabilities across multiple branded products and interfaces creates unnecessary consumer confusion. Users should be able to access one coherent assistant rather than learning different product names and modes for what could be handled transparently by a single system. This proliferation suggests a lack of clear vision about Gemini's core purpose and wastes user attention on navigation rather than functionality.
The case against
The counterpoint holds that distinct interfaces and naming conventions serve legitimate purposes by clarifying which AI capabilities apply in specific contexts and maintaining transparency about when AI is intervening. Different features—voice assistants, agents, text search—may genuinely require distinct interaction paradigms that don't consolidate well into one invisible system. The article's observation that Spark proves more useful with dedicated branding suggests purpose-built tools can outperform a monolithic approach.