Google is at it again—this time with an upgrade to its Gemini AI app, introducing a new feature they’re calling “reasoning” models. In plain English? Gemini is now better at explaining why it gives certain answers.
Sounds useful, right? But let’s be honest—AI has a bit of a track record of confidently spouting nonsense. So the real question is: Is this a game-changer, or is Gemini just better at making excuses?
What’s New?
The latest update brings a more advanced “thinking” AI model to Gemini, promising to:
✔ Break down complex questions with step-by-step logic.
✔ Provide explanations for its answers, instead of just spitting out results.
✔ Improve accuracy by reducing hallucinations (aka when AI makes stuff up with total confidence).
Essentially, Google is trying to make AI responses more transparent, which is a good thing—because nothing’s worse than an AI that acts like it knows everything… and then gets it wildly wrong.
How It’s Different From ChatGPT (Supposedly)
Google’s main selling point here is that Gemini doesn’t just give answers—it justifies them. That means if you ask something like:
“How does inflation impact small businesses?”
Gemini won’t just drop a generic one-paragraph summary—it will actually walk you through the economic mechanics step by step, citing sources where possible.
That’s a big deal if it works correctly. Most AI tools today, including ChatGPT, don’t always explain their reasoning (or, let’s be honest, they sometimes just make things up). So if Gemini’s new model reduces AI nonsense, that’s a step forward.
Can It Actually “Think”?
Let’s not get carried away—this isn’t some AI brain upgrade that gives Gemini human-like reasoning skills. It’s still just a very advanced prediction machine that’s trained to explain itself better.
The real improvement is in how it organizes information—meaning:
✔ It should be less vague when answering tricky questions.
✔ It will attempt to cite sources more reliably.
✔ It may be less likely to confidently tell you the wrong thing.
But it’s still just AI—so don’t expect it to suddenly develop deep insights about the meaning of life (or, you know, accurately summarize every historical event).
What This Means for Small Businesses
If this update works as promised, it could make AI more reliable for business owners who need:
- Accurate business insights (without AI hallucinating financial advice).
- Better customer support chatbots (so your AI doesn’t just guess answers).
- Smarter automation tools (that explain why they’re making recommendations).
It’s still early days, but if Google’s Gemini models can actually reason through complex topics, it might become a stronger alternative to ChatGPT for business-related research and decision-making.
Now, if only Google would focus less on rebranding AI products every six months and more on actually making them useful.