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Google is set to unleash the power of Gemini with upgraded capabilities when it launches Android 16 for the consumer market next year. In this version, the AI assistant becomes an agent that does things for the human user. A new API introduced to Google’s Developers page allows the AI assistant to perform actions inside the phone’s apps on behalf of the users, a huge improvement that can automate hundreds of daily phone activities.
The AI assistant will play a bigger role as it transitions to its next generation of becoming agentic, which uses reasoning and planning to solve complex problems on its own. When put in a smartphone, it could potentially revolutionize user experience.
Heavy Speculation About Agentic AI
Google released Android 16 for developers in November, sparking an air of mystery and speculation about the new feature for its AI assistant. The “app function” feature likely provides Gemini capabilities to automate daily phone activities with little to no human intervention.
Google explains the “app function” as “a specific piece of functionality that an app offers to the system,” adding that “these functionalities can be integrated into various system features.” It will let “applications … execute functions they define.”
This means Gemini can execute a specific function of an application when triggered or called upon by the system, as long as such a function is “registered and made available.” In other words, Gemini can shop online using the phone’s app with very little or no intervention from the user. For example, an “orderFood” function lets the AI assistant do the job without the need for the user to open a food delivery service app to order pizza.
Gemini is currently the default AI assistant for most Android phones and devices. However, the upgraded Gemini would be more than just an AI assistant that interacts with phone apps and external services—giving it the capacity to control the functions inside the applications on behalf of the phone’s user adds a hefty measure of utility and power to smartphones.