A week ago, I was on a three-day road trip when all the audio cut out in my car. From podcasts to directions — even the turn signal wasn’t clicking. My copilot struggled to find a solution via Google. It took me at least five minutes. Today, it took Gemini Live, the just-keep-talking-to-it version of Google’s voice assistant, about 15 seconds to come up with a solution that worked. Naturally, the moment felt magical. In The Verge’s first interaction with the assistant, rolling out today, it felt like the promised cleverness of digital assistants is finally being delivered.
But then Gemini Live kept talking. And talking. The Verge team was packed in a glass booth, and as Gemini Live droned on, a friendly Google employee encouraged me to…