This is a submission for the Google Cloud NEXT Writing Challenge
The Problem with Gemini
The discussion, the demos, the announcements at Google Cloud NEXT '26 were out of this world. I listened. I was genuinely excited. Then I decided to put it to the test.
I copied the two keynote transcripts and asked my Gemini Pro how to use the new features. Gemini proudly declared:
"I am the platform. I have all these integrated. All you have to do is ask."
So I shot.
And I found skeletons.
As we chatted, the old data kept going into hiding. Gemini promised the memory bank would always be there, that context would be stored. I spoke for two hours explaining my project in detail. Then I took a one hour break.
I came back and asked Gemini to summarise what we had discussed.
Then I asked Gemini for the results.
What the Results Actually Were
Chapter 1 — ten valid points
Chapter 2 — ten valid points
Chapter 3 through Chapter 15 — a placeholder.
Two hours of context. Gone. Chapters 3 to 15 were just a placeholder.
I tried twice more. Gemini apologised profusely. Then repeated the same.
So I moved on. I asked it to generate some images. I told the story, asked it to follow the narrative. Chapter 3's image came back completely different from what I had described. I pushed back.
Response: "I can't draw minors like that."
But I Am Talking About a 58 Year Old Male
Me: The character is a 58+ year old male.
Gemini: "Oh sorry, yes it's a mistake. I am creating the image again."
Then: "I can't draw minors like that."
Same response. Different apology. Same result.
Google AI is the most frustrating piece of daunting intelligence I have ever used. And I have used over 20 AI products across different platforms. It does not have continuity. It is not dependable.
So the new things are nothing but shiny new toys, because the base is broken.
I am a Gemini Pro user. I have been to the London Google office. I have done over 7 Google Hackathons. I have earned my right to say this.
I Am Loyal. That Is Why I Am Writing This.
I have received USD 1000 GCP credit. I am loyal to Google GCP. And that is why I am writing this. Not to complain. But because I am loyal.
You cannot build a mansion on a weak base.
The keynote was spectacular. The announcements were bold. But when a paying Gemini Pro user — someone who has sat in your London office, someone who has done 7 of your hackathons — cannot get your platform to remember a two-hour conversation, cannot get it to generate an image of an elderly man without being accused of requesting minor content, something is deeply wrong at the foundation.
Please. Act.
Kodak had the best cameras. Xerox had the best printers. The list never stops. Companies that were category leaders, companies that rested on their announcements while the base quietly cracked beneath them.
The era of the agent is here, you said. Great. But agents need memory. And right now, Gemini's memory lasts about as long as a one-hour lunch break.
Fix the base. The palace can wait.
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