Gemini's compute limits mean I can no longer trust it as my assistant

It's been almost four years since ChatGPT was released. Since then, we've had pretty reliable access to all sorts of AI chatbots from several companies.

What wasn't clear without some serious digging was how subsidized that use was. Companies were losing money hand over fist by providing these tools effectively for free.

That free lunch has now ended, and payment walls have slammed heavily into place. Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude , and more have instituted limits on free accounts, incentivizing users to pay for more use.

Paying for apps and services is nothing new, but in this case, I'm being asked to pay for something that's supposed to be an integral part of my life. And that just doesn't feel like it works.

Limits mean it's no longer a reliable partner

Gemini is my chatbot of choice, and I've made more of an effort to use it.

Most recently, I used it to getback into an old hobby of mine, Warhammer 40,000, and it was an excellent source of inspiration and information alike.

When I used it for this, I had no limits. Now,Gemini has a compute-based limit, and reaching that limit will shut it down until the limit resets every five hours.

That limit is based on compute token use, and it became very clear, very quickly, that users had no idea how to estimate how much compute a request would take.

We immediately had stories of people blowing through theirentire compute budget in a single prompt.

Google fixed this quickly, but it had already shown Gemini now had a big flaw.

If I accidentally blow through my budget, Gemini is no longer of any use to me.

This wouldn't be an issue, except Google has spent the last few years encouraging us to use Gemini as much as possible, and now it's absolutely everywhere.

Available at the touch of a button, but not for another five hours

Google is currently in the process of putting Gemini in everything.

Much like its predecessor, Google Assistant, Gemini is now available on my phone, tablet, smartwatch, smart home system, and even in my car.

But unlike Google Assistant, it makes a note of every time I use it and adds it to my budget.

A few months ago, I was whipping up a vegan mousse. Since it was a vegan mousse, it wasn't behaving like you'd expect a regular mousse to behave, so I turned to Gemini to make sure I was doing everything right.

At the time, I didn't use Gemini very much, and I only used it because my hands were full.

As it turned out, I was doing everything right and simply needed to keep going.

What would have been the implications if I hadn't had access to Gemini? Well, at worst, a rubbish mousse.

But more importantly, it marked a change in my own behavior. I started to trust Gemini more, which led me to use it more and more.

Gemini became my digital assistant. A partner, of sorts. I wouldn't go so far as to say I rely on it, but it's been a fun way to get more information on new interests and hobbies, and I enjoy using it.

But it simply can't stay that way. Because, as Google has shown, limits can change or be introduced at the drop of a hat.

I can't afford to let it become too big a part of my life.

It's forgiving for now — but tomorrow, who knows?

It's important to note that the limits seem to be pretty generous.

The story I mentioned before, of the guy who ran into his limits with just one prompt? He was generating a pretty intensive video, so it makes sense that he would use a lot of compute.

I don't do anything near that level of prompt. I ask Gemini how to paint plastic soldiers or to compare two martial art styles, and I haven't reached any of the limits yet.

Granted, I'm on theAI Pro plan, thanks to myGoogle Pixel 10 Pro. That means I have four times the limit of free users.

But even then, when I eventually run out of my free 12 months, I'm still not likely to reach those lower limits when I fall to the free tier.

Or will I?

If Google's marketing is to be believed, everyone's use of AI like Gemini will only increase in the coming months and years.

Who's to say that I won't be relying on Gemini a lot more than I am today? By the time my free trial runs out, I might be pushing against the free tier's compute limits.

There's also no guarantee that Google won't have changed the limits by that time. Either way, I'm left with no digital assistant, or face having to pay for Gemini.

I'm not saying that apps and services shouldn't have limits and paywalls to lift them. I use many free versions of apps, and they're excellent, even if I have to temper how I use them.

But none of those apps and services are being pushed as a central part of Android and my smartphone.

Google's drive to make Gemini and its connected AI the crux of everything on your phone is fine, but not when it's attached to limits.

Gemini cannot be both the most important part of my phone and a limited one. Because then you're selling people an incomplete product.

Google wants me to make Gemini an integral part of my life , and then it wants to charge me for it after I'm hooked. The first dose is always free, as a certain shady industry is fond of saying.

Well, maybe it's time to go cold turkey instead.