I’ve spent plenty of time playing with ChatGPT’s Deep Research tool and getting long and complex reports on every passing notion that sparks my curiosity. Naturally, Google piqued my interest by making Gemini’s identically named and broadly similar Deep Research feature.
As the name states, Deep Research is Google Gemini’s AI-powered research assistant. Rather than the usual search and response of the standard Gemini model, it puts together a full report, including citations from sources that it analyzes and creates a tidy package from.
After testing the free Gemini Deep Research for a bit, I wanted to share some ways you can put it to use.
Explain that movie
We’ve all had that moment after a deliberately confusing movie or TV show where you’re baffled and perhaps had to pretend to understand what was happening. Sometimes, not even the creators knew what they were going for (the story of Lost). Christopher Nolan is notorious for such plots, particularly in Tenet. If you really want to get into it, Gemini is the non-judgmental genius who will guide you out of the maze. I asked the AI to: “Explain the plot of ‘Tenet’ to someone who didn’t understand it all.”
The AI’s report, amusingly titled “Unraveling the Temporal Knot,” had everything I wanted. It walked through the movie’s complex concepts, like inverted entropy and temporal pincer movements, and even made a chart of the various characters and their goals and methods. I didn’t actually like the movie more, but at least the structure of the more nonsensical parts became clear.
Argument round
I wanted to challenge Gemini and went for combining science with social interactions. Though I’m lucky enough not to have anything like this at Thanksgiving, I’ve heard a million stories of relatives who can turn Thanksgiving dinner into a conversational minefield for one reason or another. I decided to see if Gemini could help diplomatically defuse one particular example I would have trouble not pushing back against. I explained to the AI that: “My extended family member insists the Earth is flat and I need a gentle but compelling explanation of why it’s not.”
Gemini came back with a long, easily understood explanation covering any and all aspects of the facts that the Earth is round, ranging from historical anecdotes about early explorers to simple observations anyone can make. It even had a chart of the different forms of evidence and ways that anyone could see that they proved the Earth was round.
The whole thing was written in a way that didn’t call someone who thinks the Earth is flat ignorant or any other provocation. I can think of a couple of friends for whom I might print this.
Purchase power
Next, I wanted to see how much help Gemini Deep Research could be when making a purchase. Ahead of some future house painting plans, I asked the AI to “Research the best paint finishes for high-traffic areas that are easy to clean and durable.”
The report that came back was thorough. Honestly, a little too thorough. The AI made a point of defining a long list of different kinds of high traffic and explored a lot of the chemical differences that make the paint more or less durable.
Eventually, it came to the point of which paint features to consider and which specific brands to consider. Still, ultimately, I might have opted for the shorter answer from the usual Gemini model in this case.
Road tripping
I’ve been dreaming of doing a long weekend road trip with my wife not far from here. There are plenty of guidebooks, of course, but I wanted something a little more compact and tailored to our interests, so I figured I could see if Gemini Deep Research could help.
I asked the AI to: “Help me plan a 4-day road trip through upstate New York focusing on scenic hikes, cozy bed-and-breakfasts, and local food.”
The AI came up with a very solid itinerary. Not only did it lay out what we could do every day, but it also had helpful lists and charts of places to stay, hikes to try, and restaurants to eat at. It also had a suggested packing list and tips for the drive that would make it a lot easier to get around. I also enjoyed the “local guide” flavor of the writing, with its talk of “breathtaking hikes,” “authentic flavors of local cuisine,” and “rugged wilderness and picturesque mountain towns.”
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erichs211@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
