Now’s your chance to experience Google’s impressive Gemini Live chatbot

Remember the first time you interacted with Google Assistant, were able to just ask it a question in normal language, and have it respond with a shockingly well-synthesized voice? For as mind-blowing as that was, voice interactions have since become the norm, and we thought that it would take a lot to really get us excited about them again. Well, earlier this summer, Google introduced Gemini Live, and our expectations were once again shattered by the shockingly natural conversation it offered. Now it’s time for you to finally give it a try for yourself.

Gemini Live got started as an exclusive for Google AI Premium subscribers with Gemini Advanced, and based on our initial experiences talking with it, it’s incredibly graceful with the way it handles the contextual subtleties of conversations. While Assistant dipped its toe in this pool, Gemini Live really shines with its ability to not get tripped up by you backtracking, or correcting yourself, or just doing any of the very human things we do while talking that would cause a less-advanced system to lose track.

Starting today, anyone who wants to try Gemini Live should be able to access it through the Gemini app, without needing Gemini Advanced. It’s still limited to English-only for the moment, but Google’s clear that support for additional languages is on the way soon.

You’ve got your pick of voices for how Gemini sounds, so you can get started customizing the experience right away. And while you’ll probably be just as taken as we were by how smoothly Gemini Live is able to communicate, it’s worth remembering that this still isn’t a drop-in replacement for Assistant, and Live doesn’t (yet, at least) have access to your personal data in a way that lets it advise you on your day-to-day tasks.

Give it  try for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments. Does Live meet your expectations? Or do you still just not see what all this chatbot hype is about?