Google’s AI has arrived on Android and now we even have it in the soup: its native application gives access to the chatbot and the assistant which aims to replace the traditional Google Assistant. And it’s also landed in search engine apps, like Gmail, where it composes emails for us and summarizes reply threads.
We knew Gemini would have a corner in “Google Messages”, Google’s RCS (also SMS) messaging app. Finally it arrived on my Android phone and I was able to test it: although it has the same advantages as its native application (or rather the majority), it is a powerful weapon with which fight against spam and scams. Or rather recognize them, which is not an easy task as they gain credibility.
Spam and fraudulent messages are more credible than ever
Scams are commonplace, both through calls and SMS: identity theft from the DGT, the Post Office, lost parcels that must be recovered, a pretend SMS to connect to the bank, etc. and so on. Not a day goes by without a scam hitting my smartphoneand otherwise, many other spam messages offering offers on telephone and electricity rates.
Detecting them is sometimes not an easy task, because as they proliferate, they have better designed websites to phish us. Once we have fallen and entered the link that they usually attach, all is not lost: we can take certain measures to prevent the theft of our data.
Now, like I said, identify which ones are scams and which ones are notIt’s starting to get complicated. And that’s exactly what Gemini helps me do in “Google Messages”. I’ve been using it for a long time as my default app for managing SMS, as well as RCS which I use to communicate with certain contacts.
For now, this is my favorite app for detecting these malicious SMS messages: I don’t need to get out for the AI to check the reliability of the text message. It literally takes a few seconds, come on, the time it takes for the servers to send back the response from Gemini.
Gemini discovers spam…or a scam
The arrival of Gemini on “Google Messages” didn’t excite me at first, in fact, It seemed a bit pointless to me to have access to the AI from another location. Google took care of providing Android with useful tools, as well as making the system and its applications, with many from Gemini, toxic.
However, I was completely wrong, I just needed to understand. Since it’s in the messaging app… Why not use it for messaging related purposes? Gemini in this application is not capable of generating images, nor playing music like in its assistant version, but its good understanding of human language makes possible tasks that we only have to imagine.
I would have liked to have access to my messages, to make it even simpler, because this is the procedure with which I use Gemini as a spam and scam “detector”without leaving the application:
- I tap the Gemini icon at the bottom of the screen. Or failing that, in the conversation (it appears as soon as you open it for the first time).
- I tell you what I need, the prompt is important: “I need you to be a spam and scam SMS detector. Then I will send you the SMS I received.”
- Later, going back up, I locate one of the last SMS messages which raises doubts: finger pressed on “Copy” and I return to Gemini where I paste the message.
- Gemini analyzes the message and gives me a detailed response with reasons why it is a scam, spam or simply has no negative intent.
An asterisk, in case this happens to you like me: if the suspicious text message is written in another language, when you paste it into the conversation with Gemini, ask him a simple question in Spanish: is he reliable? Or he will respond in the language of the attached SMS.
There are cases where I have doubts: receiving a message coincides with waiting for a package for example, and before taking my chance by entering the SMS link, I ask Google’s AI . Entering this link is the first step so that steal our identity or steal sensitive information. The good news is that with Gemini, you don’t need to take risks.
Cover image | Pepu Ricca for Xataka Android
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