Gemini Google Home keeps confusing my dog ​​with a cat

A cat jumped On my couch. Wait a minute. I don’t have a cat.

The alert about jumping cats is something my Google Home app sent me when I was out at a party. It turns out it was my dog. This notification came a day after Google’s Gemini for Home capability was turned on in the Google Home app. It brings the power of large language models to the smart home ecosystem, and one of the most useful features is the more descriptive alerts from Nest security cameras. So, instead of “person seen,” it could tell me that FedEx came and sent two packages.

In the two weeks since I’ve let the Gemini run my Google Home, I’ve enjoyed its ability to detect plug-in drivers the most. At the end of the day, I can ask in the Google Home app “How many packages arrived today” and get an accurate answer. It’s nice to know that, according to my Nest Doorbell, it’s FedEx at the door, not a salesperson offering to replace my windows. However, for all his intelligence, Gemini refuses to understand that I don’t have a cat in my house.

The person has been seen

ScreenshotGoogle Home via Julian Choccato

Google isn’t the only company improving its smart home ecosystem with AI. Amazon recently announced a feature in its Ring cameras called Search Party that will use the neighborhood equivalent of outdoor Ring cameras to help someone find their lost dog. (I don’t need to stretch to imagine something like this And use it for evil purposes.)

In early October, Google has been updated voice assistant on its smart home devices — some of which have been around for a decade — by replacing Google Assistant with Gemini. Mostly an assistant He is better. It can understand multiple commands in a spoken sentence or two, and you can easily ask it to automate something in your home without having to worry about the Routines tab in the Google Home app. When I ask him a simple question, he usually gives me some sort of authoritative answer without taking me to a Google search page.

Smarter camera alerts are more useful at a glance. Most of the time, I would dismiss “people seen” notifications because they were often just people walking by my house. Now the alerts actually say “Someone is passing,” which gives me more confidence to dismiss these alerts. Some alerts accurately say “Two people opened the gate,” although they can sometimes lead to hallucinations: “One person walks up the stairs,” when no one actually did. (They just walked down the sidewalk.) They note fairly accurately when UPS, FedEx, or USPS is at the door, which is nice to know when I’m busy or out, so I can be sure there’s a package when I get home — no need to look for alerts.

But with my indoor security cameras, Gemini routinely says I have a cat wandering around the house. He’s my dog. Even in “My Home Summary” — an end-of-day summary from Gemini about what happened around the house — Gemini says: “Early in the morning, a white cat was active, entering the living room and sitting on the sofa.” It’s funny, especially since my dog ​​hates cats.

Cat dog

ScreenshotGoogle Home via Julian Choccato

You would think then that I would be able to do just that Tells This smarter assistant says, “Hey, I don’t have a cat. I have a dog,” and it will adjust its models and fix the error. Well, I did just that. In the Ask Home feature, you can talk to Gemini and ask him anything related to the home. This is where you can ask them to set up automations, for example. I asked him to turn on the living room lights when the cameras detected me or my wife arriving home, and he understood the procedure. I even guessed that I only wanted the lights on when arriving at night, although I forgot to mention that.