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After releasing in late June 2024, Gemini 1.5 rocketed up to rank #2 on the AI chatbot leaderboards. But what makes Gemini 1.5 worthwhile compared to other AI models — and is it worth paying the subscription fee to use? Here’s what you need to know.
Why Gemini 1.5 Has Shot Up the AI Chatbot Charts
There are two simple reasons Gemini 1.5 shot up the AI leaderboard charts: its usefulness and its novelty. Google can’t recreate that novelty post-release, but there are a few persistent useful qualities of Gemini 1.5 that contribute to its continuing popularity:
No AI model is perfect, but Gemini 1.5 is impressive enough to have won back many users who were disappointed with the original Gemini. It isn’t competent in every area, but its fantastic handling of context and good reasoning abilities make it a powerful addition to your professional toolset.
5 Ways I Use Gemini 1.5 Everyday
After testing Gemini 1.5, I found many areas in which Gemini 1.5 was particularly well-suited to help. Writing, revising, and critiquing are just a few of the AI chatbot’s strengths. Here’s how I make the best of Gemini 1.5.
1. Summarizing Long Documents
Because of its enormous context window, Gemini 1.5 is particularly well-suited to summarizing long documents (and otherwise generating answers or new information based around them).
Gemini 1.5’s standard context window is 128k tokens, which roughly translates to 512k characters of text. That’s enough for Gemini 1.5 to read the entirety of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets and answer a detailed prompt.
2. Assisting With Programming
Because of its wide context window, Gemini 1.5 is also extremely helpful for programming. Most AI chatbots struggle to adequately help with code because their small context window prevents them from seeing the bigger picture.
Gemini 1.5 can keep track of fairly large programs, and it responds well to feedback when responses go awry. you may’t rely on AI for everything, but Gemini 1.5 is a formidable tool for troubleshooting and tweaking your code.
3. Finding Errors in my Work
Gemini 1.5’s excellent training also makes it extremely useful for finding errors in my own work. Independently, it’s easy to run into small issues (like forgetting the right word for a sentence) or bigger issues (failing to understand the broader meaning of a story).
Gemini 1.5 can provide immediate feedback in these kinds of scenarios.Its answers require fact-checking, but it can push you on the right path. If you ever find yourself completely stuck in a project, see if Gemini has any suggestions—it might be more helpful than you think.
4. Writing and Revising
Many AI tools struggle with writing and revising. They can generate good content, but that content is sometimes plagiarized — and even then, some AI tools' small context windows mean that they struggle to remember criteria.
One common issue I experience with ChatGPT, for example, is that it fails to stay within the word limit given. This issue seems to increase in frequency when you give ChatGPT detailed prompts and reference material.Inversely, simple prompts usually meet criteria.
This issue is uncommon with Gemini 1.5. Even when it rarely needs to be nudged back within guidelines, the wide context window ensures that it won’t lose the broader point when generating a better response.
5. Brainstorming
Last but not least, Gemini 1.5 is incredibly useful for brainstorming. It requires a bit of close guidance to provide truly novel ideas, but if you already have a vision for what you want, Gemini 1.5 can provide dozens of alternative iterations and help you select the best one.
The most important thing you need to remember when brainstorming with Gemini 1.5 is that it can’t think for you. A prompt asking for ice cream flavors would probably return ordinary options, for example, but a request for something sweet and savory might give more interesting flavors.
These aren’t the only ways that you can use Gemini 1.5, either. If you’re eligible, you might be able to try the new AI for free. Afterward, the cost is only $20 per month — a small price to pay for the massive power that this AI tool offers.
