Googlemade a strange announcement in early March, saying that two of its newcell phone Of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, only the Pixel 8 Pro is able to run its latest artificial intelligence model, Google Gemini". Despite the similarities between the two phones, Google has refused to run the model on the Pixel 8, citing mysterious "hardware limitations". The comments are puzzling, as Google has always claimed that the Pixel 8 is an AI-centric phone, and has designed the "Gemini Nano" model specifically for the smartphone, yet the two are not compatible.
After a few weeks, it seems that Google is starting to relent, announcing that the "Gemini Nano" feature will soon be available for the Pixel 8 in the June quarterly update, with the caveat that it will be available directly on the Pixel 8 Pro, while the Pixel 8 can only be turned on through a hidden developer option, meaning that most users won't be able to easily experience the feature. This means that most users won't be able to easily experience this feature.
Seang Chau, Google's VP of Devices and Services Software, explained the decision in his own Made by Google podcast, saying, "With 12GB of RAM, the Pixel 8 Pro is ideally suited to run the 'Gemini Nano' and let us explore its potential. The Pixel 8 Pro has 12GB of RAM, which is perfect for running the 'Gemini Nano' and lets us explore its potential to the fullest.However, the Pixel 8 only has 8GB of RAM, which may affect the user experience if the feature is enabled in a hurry. "
Chau further explains the implications of running large language models (LLMs) on phones, where Google wants some of the AI models to be "memory-resident" so they can be called up at any time.'Smart replies' require models to be resident in memory to be available at all times. Users certainly don't want to wait for the model to load when replying to a message with Gboard, so we chose to keep it running at all times." That's why the Gemini-powered "Smart Reply" feature is hidden in the developer options on both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and is not supported by Gemini in the regular keyboard settings. The "Smart Reply" feature in the regular keyboard settings is not supported by Gemini.
This means that the Gemini Nano may take up a lot of system memory and cannot be easily freed. Currently, the minimum RAM configuration for an Android phone is 8GB, but that standard could rise even higher in the future. The highest-end phones on the market already have 24GB of RAM, and mainstream flagships are commonly equipped with 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
Samsung Galaxy S24 The lowest version of the series also has only 8GB of RAM, but it can also run the Gemini Nano model, so Google's initial claim that the Pixel 8 has "hardware limitations" doesn't seem to hold water. It really depends on how much memory users are willing to give up for other apps to run this feature.
The central question, however, is whether we, as ordinary users, really need these kinds of features? Generative AI is at the peak of its hype cycle, and Google has its own considerations (e.g., stock price) for promoting AI technology. While there is a place for ChatGPT, there are only a handful of truly useful OS-level generative AI features. The ability to auto-generate replies isn't necessary for most users, and if it takes up a lot of memory that could be used for other applications, users may choose to turn it off.