Google has started rolling out a new feature for its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Gemini. Users will now see an option to play songs on YouTube Music by directly requesting the AI assistant. This is being done via a new YouTube Music extension for Gemini that integrates the app within the platform. The tech giant showcased the extension briefly during the I/O event last week, but the feature has begun rolling out now. To use this feature on their smartphone, users will need both the Gemini app and the YouTube Music app.
Gemini’s YouTube Music extension
Before users can try it out, they will have to activate the extension. There are two ways to do it. To activate the extension on the web client of Gemini, users can open the website and go to Settings > Extensions, and scroll down to find the YouTube Music extension. Once it has been toggled on, the feature will work on the smartphone given the same account is used in both places.
YouTube Music extension in Gemini
Another way to turn it on is directly on the smartphone. In the Gemini app, users can ask the chatbot to play music and an automatic pop-up will appear asking to activate the extension. Turning it on will allow Gemini to play songs from the YouTube Music app.
What can Gemini’s YouTube Music extension do
With this extension, Gemini can process verbal or typed prompts on playing songs from a particular genre, artist, album and more. It can also take more complex prompts such as “play music that I like”. To fulfil this request, the AI will check the user’s YouTube Music recommendations and play history to suggest similar songs. Google has shared a long list of tasks Gemini will be able to perform after this integration.
At launch, the Gemini AI assistant was criticised for being bare-bones and not having enough features to even match the existing Google Assistant. At the time, it could not set alarms, and reminders, or complete a task via a third-party app. Currently, the AI chatbot has extensions for Google Flights, Google Maps, Google Hotels, Google Workspace, YouTube, and YouTube Music. However, it still does not have an integration for either WhatsApp or Spotify, which many users have requested.