I asked Gemini AI Studio about Gemini (Standard) and I’m content with the answer I got (for now). But it got me thinking more questions.

I am as usual late to the party but here I am so better late than never, I guess.

So I heard Google just released (?) AI Studio and the demo is as expected, quite impressive. But I don’t know if it’s just me or is this AI family of multi-modal LLMs growing so many so quickly that I find it a bit cumbersome to keep up. Just me? Okay.

Regardless, I’d rather be stupid and admit it so I can learn from it as fast as possible than pretend I actually know what’s going on. So like any self-respecting AI lowkey enthusiast, I did what I had to do — ask — Gemini AI Studio — of course.

I was hoping I’d get a “oh wow that makes sense” — “let’s go over why that should be happening right now”. But well, I got schooled on this so-called “product strategy and the need to cater to different user segments” reason, which fair enough, does make sense.

While this whole concept of product differentiation has long served the business world, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for one product that can be customized to various applications or levels of functionality, kind of like one product where the standard window or environment is user-friendly or more “entry-level” or casual-use and but also allows for deeper functionality as needed — all embedded in the same application window but with a granular setting open for technical people but also to those non-technical ones with curious minds.

I think the idea of catering to lay use vs. technical use is slowly becoming antiquated by the day. The line between end-user, commercial and enterprise application is starting to blur if not fade completely and more and more “regular” people are being more adept at using these AI platforms and agents as time goes on.

I get that some people will probably have no interest beyond asking for a customized itinerary for their summer vacation or ask what clothes care instruction labels mean but I also think many people will benefit from their exposure to the powerful features that AI Studio offer — which they may not have the joy of serendipity if it’s not there to begin with.

Google AI Studio also goes on to explain that it’s also a matter of resources — that it will be an “overkill” for a regular user to be presented with these virtual knobs and switches that they most likely don’t need. And yes, there is a lot of truth to that. But I think if we want more people to participate in this brave new world of AI-of-Things (AoTs) — yes I made that up — we should let them tinker with switches and knobs in a safe and controlled environment that is not limited to a (for lack of a better word) dumbed-down version of these glorious multi-modal LLMs and agents. Whatever happened to “break it till you make it” (I honestly don’t know if that expression exists but oh well)?

Let regular people play with it and “break” it. Maybe it’ll make it better? I don’t know. I could be so wrong and naive and beyond help but this is what I do — I talk myself through things by writing them down on public spaces, in hopes that I gain some clarity or at the very least, make others think about an otherwise very obvious topic or answer.

So why are there multiple Gemini models and environments co-existing at the same time? I’ll let Gemini AI Studio answer that for you. As for me, I’m no dev, but I think I’ll hang out at the Studio version in the meantime until another one comes along.

Note: Below are screenshots of the short back-and-forth with Gemini AI Studio that brought on this post.