Gemini task automation is slow, clunky, and super impressive

It took nine minutes to order my dinner, but it still feels like the future.

First off: Gemini is much slower than you, or me, or most anyone at using their phone.

If you need to order an Uber right this second , you’re still the best person for the job.

Before you write it off, though, remember that task automation is designed to run in the background while you do other things on your phone.

Even better, it keeps working while you’re not looking at your phone, so you can do things like check that your passport is in your bag for the 10th time.

Here’s the one that really got me.

I put an event on my calendar for a flight to San Francisco the following day (a pretend trip for me, but real flight details).

I gave Gemini a vague prompt to schedule an Uber that would get me to the airport in time for my flight tomorrow.

Because Gemini has access to my email and calendar, it can go find that information.

It did need a little extra guidance — possibly because the flight wasn’t in my email like it expected.

But with that, it found the flight information, suggested leaving by 11:30 or 11:45AM (logical timing for a 1:45PM flight given I live close to the airport), and asked if I wanted to schedule a ride for one of those times.

I confirmed the time, and it went about setting up the ride in about three minutes with no further input required on my part.

An AI model reasoning its way through a human-centric interface feels like the most impractical and brittle way to place a pizza order.

It does hit a snag occasionally, and it’s not great at telling you why it couldn’t do something.

This version of task automation feels like a stopgap until app developers adopt more robust methods: MCP or Android’s app functions .

Google’s head of Android, Sameer Samat, told me recently that Gemini takes the reasoning approach in the absence of the other two.

Maybe this version of task automation is our preview of what’s possible, or a way to prod developers into adopting one of the other methods.

Either way, this feels like a notable first step toward a new way of using our mobile assistants — awkward, slow, but very promising.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge
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