Gemini 3: Does It Live Up to Google’s Hype?
▼ Summary
– Google’s Gemini 3 Pro model promises major upgrades in reasoning, concise responses, and features like generating interactive 3D visualizations and agentic task completion.
– Testing revealed Gemini 3 Pro delivers reasonably on its promises but often falls short of demo quality, with lower resolution or missing details in outputs like 3D models.
– The model includes a “generative UI” feature for Pro subscribers, creating interactive, magazine-style layouts for tasks like travel planning or guides, which users can customize.
– Gemini Agent, for Ultra subscribers, can perform tasks like organizing Gmail, setting reminders, and managing emails, though it sometimes provides inaccurate information or is slower than manual methods.
– While Gemini 3 offers rich Gmail integration and useful interactive features, it has hiccups in task completion and may not be practical for daily use, remaining best for answering complex questions.
Google’s Gemini 3 has arrived with considerable fanfare, promising major leaps in AI capabilities from generating interactive 3D visualizations to autonomously handling complex tasks. While the tech giant’s claims are ambitious, real-world testing reveals a model that performs reasonably well, though it doesn’t always match the polished examples shown in company demonstrations.
The Gemini 3 model family was unveiled recently, with the flagship Gemini 3 Pro being the first version released to users. Google emphasizes significant enhancements in logical reasoning and the ability to deliver more focused, direct answers compared to its predecessors. One area receiving substantial upgrades is Canvas, the integrated workspace within the Gemini application. Here, users can instruct the AI to produce code and immediately see the results. According to Google, Gemini 3 can process information from multiple sources simultaneously, such as text, images, and video, and manage more intricate requests to create detailed, interactive user interfaces, models, and simulations. The company also highlights the model’s exceptional zero-shot generation capability, meaning it performs well on tasks it hasn’t encountered during training.
To evaluate these claims, one complex demonstration was replicated: instructing Gemini 3 to build a 3D visualization comparing the scale of a subatomic particle, an atom, a DNA strand, a beach ball, Earth, the Sun, and the galaxy. The model produced an interactive graphic similar to Google’s example, enabling scrolling to compare sizes with objects correctly ordered from smallest to largest. However, the image quality didn’t fully meet the demo standard, with the DNA strand and beach ball appearing noticeably dimmer. This pattern repeated with other tests, the core concept was accurately rendered, but the execution often seemed slightly粗糙 or less refined.
Even with simpler requests, Gemini 3’s output didn’t quite achieve demo-level polish. When asked to recreate a voxel-art eagle perched on a tree branch, the result closely resembled Google’s example but lacked critical details like the eagle’s eyes and tree trunks. Experimenting beyond provided examples, a voxel-style panda turned out acceptably, but standard 3D models of a penguin and turtle appeared quite basic with minimal detail.
Beyond prototyping, Google is trialing a new “generative UI” feature for Pro subscribers that presents responses in a visually rich, magazine-style layout or as a dynamic interactive webpage. Access was granted to the visual layout feature, demonstrated through planning a three-day trip to Rome. Gemini 3 generated a personalized webpage with a proposed itinerary and customization options for pace and dining preferences. Submitting preferences triggered a redesigned layout matching the selections. This functionality also created interactive guides for other subjects, such as assembling a computer or establishing an aquarium.
Testing extended to Gemini Agent, an experimental tool for Ultra subscribers designed to execute tasks autonomously, like scheduling reminders and making reservations. Following Google’s example, the agent organized a Gmail inbox, identifying 99 unread emails from the past week and displaying them in an interactive chart. It suggested setting reminders for important emails like RSVPs and bills while providing options to archive promotional messages. When instructed to schedule a bill payment reminder, the assistant correctly added it to Google Tasks. It nearly completed the payment process by navigating the billing interface but stopped short of entering payment details due to security considerations. While manually organizing an inbox is possible, Gemini 3 proved useful by surfacing overlooked emails and offering bulk unsubscribe from spam sources.
Among AI assistants like Perplexity and ChatGPT, Gemini offers the deepest integration with Gmail. Perplexity can list inbox emails but requires manual instructions for management, unlike Gemini’s one-click options. ChatGPT declined to organize the inbox, citing read-only Gmail access despite sending emails on demand. Although Gemini connects directly to Gmail, it was slower at sending messages compared to Perplexity.
Attempting to book a restaurant reservation highlighted ongoing challenges. Gemini nearly completed the process autonomously but incorrectly stated a “cost” was involved before finalizing. When questioned, it revised the explanation to likely mean the restaurant’s service charge, then requested reservation confirmation multiple times while again mentioning a financial transaction. These experiences underscored that manually completing such tasks often feels faster and more straightforward.
Despite these task-completion hiccups, Gemini 3 Pro’s interactive visualization tools show genuine promise, with potential applications in various scenarios. However, for everyday use, standard text-based responses remain sufficiently informative. For now, Gemini continues to serve best as a tool for answering questions that aren’t easily resolved through conventional web searches.
(Source: The Verge)
