I put Google’s 24/7 Gemini Spark assistant to work, and it’s very helpful.

Gemini Spark and Google the new 24/7 helperdesigned to help you “manage your digital life,” which means you can do what you want to do online, summarize things you don’t have time to read (like your entire inbox), or organize things that would otherwise involve time-consuming manual work, like a spreadsheet for your expenses.

Service was first to inform at Google’s annual conference in May, where CEO Sundar Pichai joked that Spark, which runs on cloud computing, means “yes, you can close your laptop.” The joke here is that they are comparing Spark to other AI systems, such as the popular OpenClaw, which requires machines to be awake to perform their tasks.

Spark, he suggests, is a useful AI for the rest of us — those who would prefer to do things without the distraction of setting up an AI machine that’s always on.

In fact, Spark is still designed for work-related tasks, thanks to its integration with Google applications such as Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. (After all, how often do you plan a train in your life? Unless you do Gen Z creator explains the latest meme for your offline friends, then?)

Google also struggles a bit to come up with concrete examples that would convince someone that Spark is a “must have” rather than a “nice to have” tool for personal use.

Some of his ideas for “your creativity” include using Spark to scan your email and calendar for the day and send you feedback with your top three to-dos,” which already assumes you’re someone who writes down your to-dos in a calendar or email program, instead of a notepad (obviously or not), or just keeps a list in your brain. (For example, Pick up shampoo and conditioner at Walgreens. Buy more dog food. Hanging out with friends on Saturday.)

Google also suggests that you can use Spark as a weekend planner, by writing a Google Doc “I’ll show you three free events based on my open blocks for the coming week,” which, again, assumes you’re some kind of planner for your online life.

However, with the early discovery of the Gemini Spark, I decided to put it in perspective, with my real world view. I was surprised that it was a useful setup for consumer AI, but not one that deserves its own brand.

Earning Money

For one of my first projects, I asked Spark to help me with a research project related to purchasing. The idea was to help me with my daily trips to the local drugstore to sell household items, so I asked Spark to give me product suggestions based on weekly sales and coupons that I could capture.

At first, Spark seemed to do the best job here, as it told me exactly what was on sale that fit my needs, and suggested coupons to clip in the Walgreens app to save. It also told me how to select coupons for one item by combining online promo codes, if I’m placing an online order and plan to spend more on personal care products.

However, as is the case with AI, the devil was in the details, as one of the promotional signs was invalid when I tried, although I encountered what the AI ​​said was important. However, Spark pointed me to some savings features – like buy-one-get-one and rewards that made this possible.

Preparing a packing list for a day trip

In another test, I asked Gemini to help me with a packing list for a day trip out of town. I asked her to check the weather, collect information about the event, and make suggestions about what we can bring, such as sunscreen or water, to see what will come, after learning more about the project. I requested that the final list be imported into Google Keep.

Think what Spark can’t do? Use Google Keep.

That’s a big oversight, because Google’s writing software can be essential for anything related to your product. Instead, it made me a doc or wrote me an email because, of course, that’s the kind of thing I’d want to check on my to-do list. (??)

As for the list itself, Spark was right there, offering lawn chairs or blankets, water, sunscreen, sunglasses, sunset lights, a reusable shopping bag, and a same-day lighting umbrella. It also reminded me that dogs were not allowed, even though the event was outdoors. (Sorry, Princess!)

Summer Camp Reviews / Activities

My son has aged out of summer camps for kids (and should just get a job), but before we go that route, I wanted to check the local area to see if there are any summer activities that youth can do in addition to his construction camp in June. I asked Spark to do a thorough search and get any suggestions, keeping in mind that we wouldn’t want to drive more than 30 minutes.

Spark created a list of great ideas for activities that fit my son’s interests, and assessed how far away he was from home. Unfortunately, I forgot to activate Spark to get the money or the days of the apps, and it didn’t bother telling me, which meant I had to do a lot of research myself.

Repetitive Activity: Summarize newsletters from email

Like many, I subscribe to many newsletters, so I put Spark to work preparing a weekly summary for me, which arrives every Friday, focusing on the top five articles or articles that I should not miss reading, along with a link.

The AI ​​got to work, digging through my inbox and, in no time, it provided a summary of several interesting articles to read that included the article and the link. (The link turned out to be a Google.com redirect that didn’t work – I had to click on the link shown on the redirect page, since it didn’t send me to the page in question.) Although I usually like suggestions, Spark only returned four posts for me to read after I requested five. Spark interpreted the request as “4-5” for some reason.

Regular Events: Promote Sunday Activities

On another request, I asked Spark to prepare a list of weekend activities around town on Friday, so I could plan a fun weekend. As someone who lives in a small city, there aren’t often any big events or things to do, so making sure you don’t miss out on an upcoming street festival or hot show when it comes to town is important. But there is no single source to find everything you need to do – you have to read local newspapers, visit websites and Facebook Groups, read online newspapers, and more.

Spark instead start searching the web, including (at my request) a search in my Gmail for local newsletters, digests, or lists with keywords that reflect local opinion. Then it listed the weekend events and realized that if I wanted to add anything to my calendar, I could just reply.

If it weren’t for Spark, I would never have known there was an annual Beaver Queen’s Palace nearby, which apparently features people in beaver costumes raising money for wetlands? Well, I might have to check. (You still have to tell Spark to add it, then click a button to confirm, but that’s a lot easier than the manual work of reading through multiple sources of logic.)

Repeat Event: Look for Price Drops

For my last request, I put Gemini Spark to work tracking the price of cheap eye creams. As a penny-pincher, I wouldn’t buy it unless there was a crazy sale. I wanted Spark to keep track of my price updates and alert me if an eye cream could be cheaper. However, Spark’s interpretation of the request was to re-check the price every two weeks to see if it has dropped below my target. I’m not sure it would be frequent enough to get a deal. (I will update if the results are good, but I believe that I have set a very low price as my target – even if I raise my price by another $ 10! – so this is probably just a buy at this time. But I always hope that online sellers will be wrong one day!)

More Ideas Coming

I can already see how I can integrate Spark into my daily life in other ways too – I have ideas for adding email and cleaning services, for example. The next time I change my home filter, I’ll ask Spark to remind me every three months to change it. If I’m going on vacation, I’ll probably have some work to do during that time, too.

A place to improve

Although Spark has already done well for my projects and small things, the main objection I had was that there was no reason for this to be a stand-alone feature. I think this adds to the confusion of consumers today, where there are so many things happening in the AI ​​space, and where every new model has its own name and number, and some of these are wild. (Nano Banana, anyone?)

Why not just pitch the Spark as something that Gemini can do out of the box, instead of building its own? Why does the switch have to say “switch to Spark,” instead of “switch to Tasks?” (If it needs it’s own place in the user interface!) I personally don’t want to carry the mental burden of trying to figure out if something is a query or a function; I just want to write a question or request and be done with it.

I also think that the lack of Keep integration is a big miss in terms of practicality in your design. Google Docs is high on the packing list. And, unfortunately, for iPhone users, logging into Gemini Spark directly from your device via hardware buttons or gestures is not possible – unless Apple announces this at next month’s WWDC? Instead, you need to start the Gemini app and use it from there. (Another issue with Spark as its own app within Gemini – you can’t configure the iPhone Events button to go directly to Spark, which is different from Gemini’s chatbot interface. How cool would it be if everything Gemini does was in one place! Ugh!)

And even if Spark can do a lot with the integration of MCP, not being able to put it to work on other tasks, such as booking your favorite restaurant through Resy or checking flights on your favorite reservation system, for example, makes Spark feel missing, because not everything you do on the Internet is done in the entire Google universe.

(Also, I want to send Spark a message. I wish there was another option.)