It seems nary a day can pass without someone trying to cram AI where it wasn’t before.
Google’s latest attempt to justify spending billions on a Chinese room machine is the Play Games Sidekick. It’s a hidden feature that watches you play games. It uses AI to offer advice and give quests, and also possesses the ability to take screenshots or broadcast to YouTube.
In theory, this could be a win for Google’s AI. But one small thing bugs me about Sidekick, and it’s that I can’t help but feel I’ve seen it before. Doesn’t it remind you a little bit of Clippy?
That which we call a Clippy, by any other name would be as annoying
‘Would you like me to play this game for you?’
I’ll give it its due before I start complaining like the grouchy old man I am: Sidekick does look useful.
If you haven’t been paying attention, here’s the lowdown on how it works. Sidekick boots up when you start playing a game, as part of the usual Play Games package. You know, the pop-up you get that asks you to sign in to your Google account? Sidekick will run alongside that, hidden just off-screen.
Open it up, and you’ll get access to Gemini Live for asking questions directly from the game, as well as tips based on how you’re playing, coupons, and other bits of trivia, like your current playing streak.
You’ll even be able to take screenshots and recording, or begin streaming to YouTube.
It’s an all-in-one idea, a place where you can use Gemini’s knowledge without needing to leave the game you’re playing. It’ll also offer contextual tips and advice, so if you’re rubbish, Gemini will helpfully point that out. Thanks, Google.
There’s some usefulness there, even if some of it is a little niche — who streams mobile games to YouTube, for one thing? But hey, sarcasm aside, a helpful assistant isn’t a bad thing.
However, one thing stood out to me from Google’s screenshots, and that’s that Sidekick has more than a little whiff of Clippy about it.
Clippy, for those of you not as old as me, was the original digital assistant. An animated paperclip, Clippy would ask whether you needed help while writing.
While remembered fondly today, at the time, it was well known for being extremely irritating.
I’ll be honest, it was the screenshot above that gave me Clippy flashbacks. Just imagine Gemini yammering on at you while you’re trying to play a game. It’s annoying me already.
Throw in that Sidekick will apparently know better than you how to play the game, and, um, this is starting to feel a little familiar, and not in a good way.
I know it won’t work that way. It’ll probably only trigger when I want it to, and it’s entirely optional. Not really like Clippy at all, who would pop up whenever it thought it was best.
But that got me thinking. I’ve never forgotten Clippy, and that’s a feat in itself. With that in mind, is being Clippy actually the best case scenario for an AI feature like this one? Because what if the alternative is to be forgotten entirely?
Just like most AI features then
Terry Pratchett wrote “notoriety wasn’t as good as fame, but was heaps better than obscurity.”
Let’s be honest, if Sidekick doesn’t take a leaf out of Clippy’s book and remind us it’s there, we’re all going to forget about it. I’m quite certain that’s going to be the case, because it’s already happened to a far better feature: Samsung’s Edge Panel.
I also haven’t used it in years. Frankly, I’d forgotten it existed until I started researching this piece.
I haven’t used it, not because I didn’t like it, or because it wasn’t useful, I simply forgot it existed. And that’s a terrible outcome for any feature.
Find your niche or die
Google is notoriously trigger-happy
I have a running theory that if a feature or app doesn’t imprint itself indelibly on your consciousness and routine immediately, then you forget about it. It may be that I’m simply very easily distracted, and there’s a truth in that.
But we’re also, as a society, being bombarded with new things every single day. New AI-powered tools are seemingly dropping multiple times a day, and Google seems to contribute to about half of those new releases.
The keen-eyed among you will have noticed my gift for overstatement hasn’t lessened, but there’s a pearl of truth to the idea that we’re constantly inundated with new information, concepts, and features.
How is a new feature meant to stand out in a world where it’s the new, hot thing for about thirty seconds?
The answer? Clippy had it figured out years ago: Make sure they remember you, even if that means getting in their face from time to time.
I don’t think Sidekick will do that, and will save it from becoming annoying — but it may consign it to simply becoming irrelevant. And we all know what happens to apps and features Google deems irrelevant.
I hope that doesn’t happen. Sidekick seems like a genuinely useful tool, and I can see it being someone’s favorite new AI feature. But I have a horrible feeling it’ll be easily forgotten, and that’s a shame.
Maybe if it were an animated paperclip, it would do better, after all.
