Gemini Gems

Create Custom "Experts" For Any Task:

 Google Gemini Gems

Have you dipped your toes in the AI waters yet? I have heard from several educators that they tried using a generative ai tool but they weren't pleased with the results. When I ask them to tell me more, it usually gets to the point that crafting just the right prompt was such an arduous task that the ai tool no longer was saving any time. 

Yes, prompting an ai chatbot to get the results you want can be frustrating and tiresome, especially if you are asking it to do similar tasks over and over. It can get annoying to keep copying and pasting and editing the same prompt.

That's why I'm excited to show you Gemini Gems!

What Are Gems?

Gemini Gems are a tool that lets you create custom experts for any task within Gemini. The idea behind Gems is to give you an AI chat bot that’s designed to help you specifically how you want it to. For example, you can create a Gem to act as a positive, upbeat time manager that has created a work-life balance schedule just for you. Basically, you can give your Gem unique context to meet your needs and revisit this exact AI expert, eliminating the need for constant prompt refinement.

How Do I Access And Use Gems?

• First, go to Gemini.google.com and log in using your school account. Since we have a Workspace For Education account, your data will not be collected and used to train the ai models.
• Hover over the gray bar on the left side of the screen to open the side menu and view the premade Google gems and the gem manager. Premade gems are a fantastic way to get started. 

You will see gems for Career Guide, Chess Champ, Coding Partner, Learning Coach, Writing Editor, and Brainstormer. 

• When you click on a premade gem you will see several ideas pop up. These are suggestions for how you can use this particular gem. 

• If you have a premade gem that is good but not quite what you are looking for, you can click the three vertical dots and copy it. Then you can customize it. 
• After you click "copy" you will see under the hood of the gem. You will have access to the purpose, goals, and instructions of the gem. You are able to edit all of these to your liking. 
• In order to really narrow the specificity of your gem, you can upload up to 10 files that your gem will reference. 
• You also have a preview window so you can test it out while you are tinkering. This type of iteration is exactly the way we want our students to be experimenting and thinking critically in order to get a desired outcome. 

Copying and editing is a wonderful way to create a custom gem without needing to start from scratch. This type of scaffolding is designed to help you get better at using the ai tools.

Ready to create a gem from scratch? 

• In the gem manager, click "new gem"
• Give your gem a name, add the instructions, load any reference files, and take it for a spin.
• If you are still not super confident in your prompting skills, you can click the little magic pencil icon and it will help you with your prompting.

 

Why or When Would I Use Gems?

Think about some repetitive tasks. One popular one is for help with writing. If you know that you have a tendency to be too verbose, perhaps you could create a gem that can help you be more concise. 

I have been struggling with not staying on task lately. I find myself bouncing from task to task without actually finishing anything (how I got this post done is a mystery to me). Consequently, I feel overwhelmed and a little directionless. I decided to create a custom gem that I titled: Time On Task Manager. I uploaded a document from University of Pennsylvania called Mastering Your Schedule Effective Time Management Strategies For Success to use as a reference because I wanted to make sure the ai bot would give me suggestions and strategies that were tested and proven. Because I am still not confident in my abilities to create new things from scratch, I made a copy of the Brainstormer gem and went sentence by sentence changing it to act as my personal time management specialist. Then, I tested it out. Did it do what I set out for it to do? Absolutely! What is funny is I think just the act of having it ask me to list out all of the items on my to-do list, and then explain my time constraints, was very helpful just to calm down and see that I can manage my list. Could I have done this on a sticky note? Probably. Did it feel productive and helpful and motivate me to get started? Definitely. Just having the positive words of affirmation there, followed by real time management strategies AND a custom schedule really did seem to make a difference. 

Are you ready to try Google Gemini Gems?

Let me know what you try and how it goes. 

Want to see mine in action? Reach out. I'm happy to show you.