In Gemini’s settings, you’ll discover an choice known as “Saved Information.” Google describes this as a spot the place you’ll be able to retailer info “about your life and preferences” to get higher outcomes from its chatbot. I’m right here to let you know that could be the least helpful approach to make use of this function. It’s far more highly effective as a option to construct your personal shortcuts proper into Gemini.
You’ll find this function by deciding on Settings in your Gemini app or on the net. Click on “Saved information” and you will find an empty web page and an Add button. Click on this and you will be given an empty field, the place you’ll be able to write a kind of pre-prompt instruction. Every block appears to have a restrict of round 1,500 characters, although there would not appear to be a restrict on what number of of those blocks you’ll be able to retailer.
Google reveals examples that embrace easy directions, like “I favor brief, concise responses” or solely recommending vegetarian recipes. However this area is much more highly effective than that.
How Gemini makes use of the “Saved Information” prompts
I first seen this after I was trying out Gemini’s Canvas for drafting paperwork. Typing (or saying) “Convert all of the subheadings on this doc to H2s” is usually extra cumbersome than simply doing it myself. However with Saved Information, I can write a variation of that instruction that tells Gemini to hold out that motion if I merely kind “H2s”.
This works as a result of each chat you begin with Gemini will reference something saved right here as a set of common context blocks. Earlier than processing no matter immediate you give, Gemini will learn your Saved Information first and deal with it as directions that come earlier than something within the dialog itself.
Utilizing “Saved Information” to tweak doc templates
This trick additionally works for extra complicated directions. For instance, we could say you have to write loads of cowl letters and need to tailor them to every job you are making use of to. You might add this block to Saved Information:
“If a immediate begins with ‘cowl letter’, create a draft of a canopy letter within the Canvas. A canopy letter ought to be not more than 3 paragraphs. If the immediate contains an individual’s title, handle the letter to that particular person. If the immediate contains ‘abilities:’ then incorporate the talents talked about after that into the context of the letter. Signal all cowl letters as [YOUR NAME].”
With these directions, you would invoke Gemini to create a draft of a canopy letter for you with just some phrases. You might even develop this additional by offering a complete cowl letter template (so long as it is underneath the character restrict) and instruct Gemini to solely make easy adjustments based mostly on the factors you present.
One of many largest issues with utilizing generative AI to jot down for you is that it may be a bit dicey for anything other than first drafts. And if you need to babysit it each step of the way in which, you may as effectively write the entire thing your self. This method, nonetheless, offers you extra leeway to jot down for your self, whereas nonetheless automating the extra tedious facets of tweaking a doc for each particular person you are sending it to.
Customise your sensible residence directions
One other helpful instance, when you’ve got sensible residence devices linked by Google Residence, is that you may flip easy instructions into extra complicated ones. For instance, after I sit down to look at a film, I normally need to flip off the overhead lights, however activate the LED backlight strip behind my TV. It isn’t a enormous ache to say “Flip off overhead front room lights and activate TV backlight” however it is a bit of a mouthful.
Since Gemini is the default sensible assistant on my telephone, although, I can add the next immediate to “Saved Information”:
What do you suppose to date?
If a immediate consists solely of ‘film time,’ then flip off overhead lights in the lounge, and activate TV backlight.
Now, I pull up Gemini on my telephone, say “film time” and it interprets the directions and passes it to Google Residence. Observe: This requires enabling and connecting the Google Residence Gemini app (which is, confusingly, not the Google Residence cellular app, however an extension inside Gemini itself).
Automate instructions in plain English, no code required
We’re fairly large followers of automating duties, particularly with companies like IFTTT, however the draw back is that generally they will get a bit tech-y or difficult. What’s so interesting about this explicit trick with Gemini is that you may write directions in plain, human-readable language.
One of the attention-grabbing use circumstances I attempted was the next immediate:
If a immediate consists of ‘grammar examine,’ then learn the doc on the included hyperlink. Examine it for grammatical errors. Then, within the Gemini Canvas, create a draft of an e mail with a short abstract of any points discovered. Hold the abstract temporary.
Whereas this does not work 100% of the time on all hyperlinks (primarily as a consequence of how Gemini filters exterior textual content for safety issues), I did not have to do any extra coding or messing with settings to make this command work. I wrote two phrases, “grammar examine,” and pasted a hyperlink to one among my current articles. The outcome was a report that stated there have been no grammatical points. (Thanks, Lifehacker editors.)
Watch out with how a lot you permit in Gemini’s fingers
It ought to go with out saying, however I will say it anyway: Gemini efficiently parsing directions is not the identical as efficiently finishing up directions. Within the grammar examine instance above, I used to be impressed that Gemini understood reference longer directions from shorthand, however that does not essentially imply it could efficiently catch each grammatical challenge.
The Saved Information trick is extremely helpful for automating repetitive prompts, but when there is a process you would not belief Gemini with earlier than, this would possibly not make it extra reliable now. Perhaps you do not belief Gemini to catch grammatical errors to your requirements, however suppose it is fantastic for summarizing the contents of a hyperlink. With a pair easy tweaks, you’ll be able to regulate the above command to that process, no coding required.
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