Google has recently upgraded its flagship AI model, Gemini, with audio understanding capabilities. The latest version 1.5 Pro of Gemini can now process and understand audio data beyond text and images, allowing it to transcribe, summarize, and analyze audio files like podcasts, lectures, calls, and more directly from the original audio source.
Most AI transcription and summarization tools convert audio to text before analyzing the content. However, with Gemini 1.5 Pro, this intermediate step is no longer necessary, as it can understand audio at a deeper level, improving response accuracy.
This enhanced audio capability significantly expands Gemini’s usefulness across a range of professional and creative use cases. It allows users to receive a concise, AI-generated summary of key points and action items from the recording of a three-hour company meeting in seconds. Similarly, podcasters and audio creators could use Gemini for thematic analysis, show prep notes, and even AI-powered audio content creation.
Google’s roadmap is to create a true multimodal assistant capable of processing any type of data. The new feature could also help Google create new ads, as it recently partnered with an advertising giant. However, Google is taking a cautious and controlled approach by releasing Gemini’s new audio skills only through its Vertex AI development platform and AI Studio tools, not through the service available to consumers. This will allow Google to rigorously validate the quality and robustness of Gemini’s audio capabilities before releasing them to everyone.