What you need to know
- Google announced an AI storybook update for Gemini, letting parents bring real-world inspiration for nightly stories.
- Parents can use their child’s drawing and have Gemini create a narrated story from that or they can upload a photo from a recent trip.
- This AI illustrated storybook is rolling out in the Gemini app today (Aug 5) globally.
Google is rolling out an update for Gemini today (Aug 5) that lets parents use their child’s imagination as fuel for its latest AI update.
The latest update hitting the Gemini app lets users generate “illustrated storybooks” with Gemini, per a Keyword blog post. This feature is rolling out globally on computers and phones, letting users “describe any story you can imagine” and receive a 10-page storybook in return. Users don’t just have to rely on their words with Gemini, as Google states, you can use a variety of external materials to help the AI see what you have in mind.
For example, Google says users can use their memories as fuel for Gemini. If you’ve got photos of a recent trip on your device, users can upload them to Gemini to tell it to create a story from that. Similarly, if you’ve got a little one, you can snap a picture of their drawing, too.
Google states users can tell Gemini that the photo is of their child’s drawing and to create a storybook that “brings his/her drawing to life.” If you’re interested, here’s an example of one such story created with Gemini.
Additionally, Google says parents can use Gemini’s AI storybook creation to help their child or children understand complex topics or lessons, such as sharing.
Gemini’s storybooks are outfitted with narration capabilities, meaning you’ll have an AI voice to read your story aloud. It’s perfect for those nights when you’re far too tired. Parents can also share their stories or print them out, so your little one can ask you to read them again and again and again.
Google states this update is rolling out today (Aug 5), and that you can try it out. We’ve tested this out, and it seems available for the most part. “Storybook” is marked as an experiment right now, so keep that in mind when using it.
Gemini Advances
Gemini’s most recent (and substantial) update was in mid-July when Google introduced its 2.5 Flash-Lite model. After spending a month in “preview,” the 2.5 Flash-Lite model arrived as Google’s most cost-efficient version of Gemini. This update mainly focused on developers, as Google announced devs could find $0.10 per 1M token input and $0.40 for output.
Companies got in on the 2.5 Flash-Lite variant, as well, revealing that it’s helped cut down on processing satellite telemetry and more. In short, this updated version of Flash is much lighter, meaning its processing should be speedy for math, coding, science, and such topics. Google states this model strikes a balance between speed and power, though other version of Gemini holds a little more power for more complex topics.
