Lesson 7: Personalizing Google Gemini

Why Personalization Makes AI Better

Imagine having an AI assistant that not only answers your questions but actually remembers your preferences, adapts to your specific needs, and communicates in exactly the style you prefer. That's the promise of a personalized Gemini experience.

By default, Gemini is a powerful but general AI model. It can answer questions and help with tasks, but as we covered in Lesson 2, it doesn't automatically know your context or preferences. Without personalization, you might find yourself repeating the same instructions or background information in every conversation. This repetition wastes time and creates a disconnected experience where the AI seems to "forget" important details about you.

Personalization transforms this generic AI into your AI. As Google explains, the goal is to create a truly personal assistant "that understands you" and gives uniquely insightful responses shaped to your needs. This personalized approach offers significant benefits:

• Eliminates repetition: You won't have to remind the AI of your basic information or preferences in each conversation
• Delivers more relevant answers: Responses will be tailored to your specific context and needs
• Saves time: You can jump straight to your questions without lengthy setup
• Creates consistency: The AI maintains your preferred style, format, and context across interactions

In this chapter, we'll explore three powerful personalization tools in Google Gemini:

• Custom Gems: Create specialized AI assistants for specific roles or tasks
• Memory (Saved Info): Teach Gemini about your preferences and context
• Custom Instructions: Set default guidelines for how Gemini responds to you

By mastering these features, you'll transform Gemini from a generic chatbot into a personalized assistant that truly understands and adapts to your unique needs.

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you will:

• Understand the value of AI personalization for productivity and user experience
• Learn to create and use custom Gems for specific tasks and domains
• Master Gemini's Memory features to maintain preferences across conversations
• Set up effective custom instructions that guide Gemini's responses
• Combine personalization features for maximum impact

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Understanding Gemini's Personalization Toolkit

Before diving into the practical steps, let's clarify what each personalization tool does and how they work together:

Google Gemini: Google's powerful AI chatbot (the successor to Bard) capable of answering questions, writing content, and performing various language-based tasks; refer to Lesson 2 to learn how it works. Gemini can be accessed via web browser or mobile app and serves as the foundation for all the personalization features we'll explore.

Custom Gems: Your own custom AI chatbots built on Gemini. A Gem is essentially a specialized version of Gemini that's configured for a specific role or purpose. Think of Gems as different "personas"; you might create a Travel Planner Gem, a Coding Helper Gem, or a Creative Writing Gem, each with its own specialized knowledge and behavior.

Memory (Saved Info): A feature that allows Gemini to remember information about you or persistent instructions you provide. This acts like Gemini's long-term memory about your preferences and context, which it can reference to personalize future responses across all conversations.

Custom Instructions: Guidelines you set for how the AI should behave or format its answers. In Gemini, you implement these through the Saved Info feature by telling it things like "always explain in simple terms" or "respond in both Spanish and English." These instructions become defaults that Gemini follows in all conversations.

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Custom Gems: Creating Your Specialized AI Assistants

One of the most powerful ways to personalize Gemini is by creating Custom Gems. A Gem is essentially a customized AI assistant you define, complete with its own persona, expertise, and style.

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Why Use Gems?

In Lesson 4 and Lesson 6, we talked about how to elicit the best responses from Gemini using prompt engineering. Gems take this a step further; they allow you to have dedicated AI helpers for different tasks instead of using the generic Gemini for everything. This is particularly valuable if you use Gemini in different ways at different times:

• Brainstorming Gem for creative ideation
• Technical Writer Gem for formal documentation
• Fitness Coach Gem for workout planning

Rather than re-prompting the AI with lengthy instructions each time you switch contexts, you can simply select the relevant Gem. Each Gem follows its own set of instructions that you provide, so it behaves in a consistent, specialized way.

Creating Your First Custom Gem: Step-by-Step

Follow these steps to build your own specialized AI assistant:

1. Access the Gem Manager

• On the Gemini web app (gemini.google.com), look for the small gem icon or "Gem Manager" in the left-side panel
• On mobile, you may find Gems under the main menu
• Click Gem Manager, then select "New Gem" to begin creating

2. Name Your Gem

Give your custom bot a clear, descriptive name that reflects its intended purpose. For example:

• "Marketing Advisor"
• "Recipe Genie"
• "Study Buddy"

A descriptive name helps you remember the Gem's purpose and sets expectations for its behavior.

3. Write Instructions for Your Gem

This is the most critical step. You'll see a text box where you describe what the Gem should be and how it should behave. Remember what we discussed in Lesson 6 when crafting advanced prompts; be as clear and specific as possible, because you're essentially programming the AI's personality and scope with plain language.

Google's Gemini team recommends covering four key areas in your instructions:

Persona: Who is the AI supposed to emulate or what is its personality?

• Example: "You are a friendly career coach with 10 years of HR experience"

Task/Purpose: What is this Gem's primary job or expertise?

• Example: "...who helps me refine my résumé and practice interview questions."

Context/Knowledge: Any background it should know or assume

• Example: "I work in software engineering, and I have 5 years of experience in the field."

Preferred Format/Style: How you want answers delivered

• Example: "Give your advice in short, encouraging paragraphs, and end each answer with one practical action item I can try."

By providing clear guidance in these areas, you help the Gem understand exactly how it should behave and respond.

4. Add Reference Knowledge (Optional)

For more specialized Gems, you can enhance their knowledge base by attaching files:

• In the Gem creation interface, look for an option to attach files (PDFs, documents, etc.)
• You can add up to 10 reference files for the Gem to draw information from

This is particularly useful for creating Gems that need domain-specific knowledge. For example:

• A Company Policy Q&A Gem could reference your employee handbook
• A Literature Tutor Gem might incorporate study materials or book analyses
• A Product Support Gem could include technical documentation

5. Save Your Gem

Once you're satisfied with your instructions and any added reference files, save your new Gem. It will now appear in your Gem list, typically in the sidebar.

6. Use Your Custom Gem

Using your Gem is simple:

1. Select it from your Gem list
2. Gemini will open a chat where the AI now operates according to your instructions
3. Everything you ask in that chat will be handled by your custom AI persona

The instructions you wrote are implicitly applied to every prompt, so you don't have to repeat them. If you want to modify the Gem's behavior later, you can edit its instructions through the Gem Manager.

Real-World Example: Creating an Editing Coach Gem

Let's say you're a writer who wants help editing your drafts. You could create an "Editing Coach" Gem with these instructions:

Persona: You are a seasoned editor and grammar expert who is kind but direct.

Task: Help improve my writing by pointing out unclear sentences, grammar issues, and suggesting alternatives.

Context: I write fantasy novels and have an informal style.

Format: Respond with two sections: "Issues" (bullet points of problems) and "Suggestions" (how to fix them).

Once saved, you can paste paragraphs of your writing to this Gem. It will reply in the editor persona, perhaps like this:

Issues:

1. The second sentence is very long and hard to follow.
2. Some repetitive wording ('forest' used three times).

Suggestions:

1. Split the long sentence into two shorter ones for clarity.
2. Use a synonym for 'forest' like 'woods' in one instance.

This feedback follows exactly the format and tone you specified, with no additional prompting needed each time.

Expert Tips for Creating Effective Gems

Use Premade Gems as Templates

Google provides several premade Gems (Brainstormer, Career Guide, Coding Partner, etc.) that you can use as starting points. These are like templates created by experts that you can use directly or customize:

1. Start with a premade Gem that's close to what you need
2. Make a copy of it through the Gem Manager
3. Modify its instructions to fit your specific requirements

For example, you could take the "Brainstormer" Gem, copy it, rename it to "Dance Choreography Brainstormer," and add specific instructions about focusing on dance movements.

Use AI Assistance for Writing Instructions

If you're struggling to write comprehensive instructions for your Gem:

1. Look for a "magic wand" icon near the instruction textbox when creating or editing a Gem
2. Type a brief description of what you want (e.g., "Expert in 18th-century history who can answer questions as if it's 1780")
3. Click the wand, and Gemini will generate expanded, detailed instructions based on your brief

This feature helps you create more comprehensive instructions and learn what well-crafted prompts look like.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

• Keep each Gem focused: Rather than creating one Gem that tries to do everything, create separate Gems for distinct tasks or roles. This allows each Gem to excel at its specific purpose without confusion.
  
  
• Provide concrete examples: Include example questions and ideal responses in your instructions to set clear expectations for the Gem's behavior.
  
  
• Avoid vague instructions: Instead of "Help me with editing," specify exactly what you want: "Check my writing for grammar errors, suggest clearer phrasing for complex sentences, and ensure consistent tense."
  
  
• Utilize reference materials: If your task involves specific knowledge, upload relevant documents or paste important information into the instructions. The Gem can't access external data unless you provide it.
  
  

Try It Yourself: Custom Gem Creation Exercise

Think about a task you regularly use AI for. What would make that interaction more efficient? Create a Gem with a clear purpose, persona, and response format related to that task.

• Task/Domain: _______________________
• Gem Name: _______________________
• Persona: _______________________
• Purpose/Task: _______________________
• Context/Knowledge: _______________________
• Format/Style: _______________________

After creating your Gem, test it with a question relevant to its domain. How does the response differ from what standard Gemini would provide?

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Memory (Saved Info): Teaching Gemini About You

Another powerful personalization feature is Gemini's ability to remember information about you for future interactions. This is referred to as "Saved Info" in the Gemini app, and it essentially functions as the AI's long-term memory about you.

Why Use Saved Info?

Without Saved Info, Gemini treats each new chat like a blank slate; it has no idea who you are or what you discussed previously. This is why Gemini is so functional in a wide range of situations, but it also means repeating the same context in every conversation if you're trying to work on one consistent project.

With Saved Info enabled, you don't have to repeat yourself. The AI recalls what you told it previously and can tailor answers accordingly. This makes conversations feel more natural and efficient, like talking to an assistant who already knows the basics about you.

What Can You Save in Gemini's Memory?

You can save any information that helps contextualize or personalize responses:

• Personal facts: Your name, profession, hobbies, dietary preferences, languages you speak, etc.
• Preferences and style: How you like to receive information (brief answers vs. detailed ones, formal vs. casual tone, etc.)
• Ongoing context: Projects you're working on, topics of long-term interest, upcoming events, etc.

Adding and Managing Saved Info: Step-by-Step

1. Access Saved Info Settings

• On the web interface, click on Settings (typically a gear icon) and find "Saved Info" in the sidebar menu
• On mobile, tap your profile or menu to locate Saved Info
• Alternatively, go directly to gemini.google.com/saved-info when logged in

2. Add New Information or Instructions

1. In the Saved Info page, click the "+ Add" button
2. A prompt will ask, "What do you want Gemini to remember?"
3. Type the information or instruction you want to save (e.g., "I'm vegetarian" or "For coding questions, I prefer examples in JavaScript")
4. Click Submit/Save to add it to your list

3. Add Information During a Chat

As we discussed in Lesson 2, Gemini has a large context window that can retain a lot of information during your conversations. Sufficiently lengthy conversations with Gemini can lead to some of the information you shared at the beginning of the conversation to get pushed out of that context window, which is where hallucination becomes a concern; fortunately, you can refresh Gemini's memory by prompting it to remember something while chatting, and it will specifically retain that piece of information:

• Simply phrase it explicitly: "Remember that I'm vegetarian" or "Please remember: my two dogs are named Fido and Luna"
• Gemini will acknowledge with a message like "Okay, I'll remember that"
• This information is automatically added to your Saved Info list

4. View and Edit Saved Information

All your saved items will be listed on the Saved Info page:

• You can edit entries by clicking the pencil icon
• Delete items with the trash/bin icon
• There's also a "Delete all" option if you want to clear everything

You maintain complete control over what Gemini remembers about you.

5. How Gemini Uses Your Saved Info

Once information is saved, Gemini automatically applies it when relevant:

• If you saved "I'm vegetarian," Gemini will tailor food-related responses accordingly
• If you saved format preferences like "Keep answers brief," it will follow that style
• The interface typically indicates when saved info is being used with a label like "Using your saved info"

Example of Saved Info in Action

Here's a simple example of how Saved Info works:

1. You tell Gemini: "Remember that I'm vegetarian."
2. Gemini confirms: "Ok, I'll remember that you're vegetarian."
3. Later, you ask: "Can you suggest a recipe for Bolognese sauce?"
4. Gemini responds with a vegetarian Bolognese recipe using mushrooms instead of meat, noting it used your saved dietary preference

This feature makes interactions more efficient and personalized without you having to repeat your preferences in every conversation.

Best Practices for Using Memory

• Save core preferences that rarely change: Dietary restrictions, tone preferences, professional field, language preferences, etc.
• Monitor what Gemini remembers: Periodically review your Saved Info list to ensure it's current and relevant.
• Be selective: Focus on information that consistently influences what you ask rather than random facts that rarely come into play.
• Set realistic expectations: Gemini will use your saved info when relevant but won't force it into every response.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Don't treat Saved Info as a journal: Be selective about what you save, focusing on information that genuinely enhances your Gemini experience.
• Don't save sensitive personal data: For privacy and security reasons, avoid saving highly sensitive information like passwords, full addresses, or detailed financial data.
• Don't expect perfect application: Gemini will try to use your saved info when relevant, but it might not apply in every situation. The AI balances your preferences with the specific context of each question.

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Custom Instructions: Guiding Gemini's Responses

Custom instructions in Gemini function as global directives about how the AI should respond to you. These are implemented through the Saved Info feature we just discussed, by adding entries that specify how you want Gemini to behave or format its responses.

Types of Custom Instructions

You can set instructions for various aspects of Gemini's behavior:

• Answer format: "Whenever possible, answer with a bullet-point list" or "If the answer involves data, present it in a table."
• Tone and formality: "Use a friendly, conversational tone and add emojis when appropriate" or "Use formal business language in responses."
• Language preferences: "Respond in French by default" or "After giving the answer in English, provide a Spanish translation."
• Level of detail: "If I ask for help with math or coding, show the full solution process" or "Keep answers brief and only give the final result unless I ask for details."
• Follow-up behavior: "End your answer with a question to prompt further discussion."
• Role or perspective: "Assume I have basic knowledge in physics when explaining science topics."

Setting Custom Instructions

To add custom instructions in Gemini:

1. Go to the Saved Info interface as described earlier
2. Click "+ Add" to create a new entry
3. Type your instruction (e.g., "After answering my question, ask if I need more help")
4. Save the instruction

Each instruction can be its own entry, and you can have multiple instructions active simultaneously. Gemini will attempt to honor all of them, though there is a practical limit to how many different guidelines it can balance effectively.

Example of Custom Instructions in Action

Let's say you add this custom instruction: "After answering my question, ask me if I need more help." Now, when you ask Gemini a simple question like "What's the capital of Argentina?", instead of just answering "The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires," it might respond:

"The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires. Is there anything else you'd like to know about Argentina?"

The additional question at the end appears because of your custom instruction, even though you didn't specifically request it in that particular prompt.

Similarly, if you set a formatting instruction like "Use markdown formatting in responses, and if giving code, put it in a code block," Gemini will automatically format its answers accordingly without you asking each time.

Tips for Effective Custom Instructions

• Be precise and unambiguous: Clearly state exactly what you want Gemini to do. Instead of vague instructions like "Tell me more about things," use specific directives like "Provide at least two follow-up questions in your response."
  
  
• Understand the scope: Custom instructions apply generally across all conversations. They're not conditional without careful phrasing. If you need very different styles for different topics, consider using separate Gems instead.
  
  
• Start simple: Begin with just a few key instructions that matter most to you. Too many rules can constrain the AI or create conflicts. You can always add more as you get comfortable with how they affect responses.
  
  
• Test and refine: After adding a new instruction, try various types of questions to see how it influences different contexts. If you notice unintended effects, adjust or remove the instruction.
  
  

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

• Conflicting instructions: Be careful not to set contradictory guidelines like "be extremely brief" and "always include lots of details" simultaneously.
• Forgetting about active instructions: If Gemini seems to be responding oddly, check your active instructions; you may have set a style directive that you've forgotten about.
• Trying to override system limitations: Instructions can't make Gemini do things it's not designed for, like accessing real-time data or bypassing safety guidelines.

Try It Yourself: Custom Instruction Exercise

Add a simple custom instruction to Gemini, such as "Always end your responses with an interesting fact related to the topic." Ask several different questions on various topics and observe how consistently Gemini follows this instruction. Notice how this small change creates a distinctive experience personalized to your preference.

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Combining Personalization Features for Maximum Impact

The real power of Gemini personalization comes when you combine these features strategically:

Gems + Memory

Create a specialized Travel Planner Gem and save your travel preferences (budget, favorite airlines, etc.) in Memory. The Gem handles the role of travel advisor while your saved preferences ensure recommendations match your needs.

Memory + Custom Instructions

Save factual information about yourself (profession, hobbies) and set formatting instructions (preferred language, tone). This combination creates responses that are both contextually relevant and presented exactly how you like them.

Gems + Custom Instructions

Build a specialized Coding Helper Gem with expertise instructions, then add formatting preferences (e.g., "show explanations before code examples"). This creates an AI tutor that both understands your learning domain and presents information in your preferred style.

All Three Together

For example, you might create a Fitness Coach Gem (specialized role), save your fitness goals and limitations in Memory (personal context), and set custom instructions for how detailed the workouts should be (response style). This creates a highly personalized fitness assistant that knows your needs and communicates effectively.

One last note before wrapping up. These features work best when you also understand how to craft a functional prompt; at its core, you still need to understand how to communicate your needs clearly and unambiguously to Gemini in order to get the maximum functionality out of these features. Refer to Lesson 4 and Lesson 6 to make sure you understand what makes a good prompt before attempting to customize Gemini.

Key Takeaways

Let's review the essential concepts:

1. ‍Google Gemini can be personalized using built-in tools so it adapts to you, rather than you adapting to it. This improves efficiency, relevance, and the overall experience.‍
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2. Custom Gems let you create specialized AI chatbots for different roles or tasks. By providing clear instructions about persona, task, context, and format, you essentially "train" a dedicated AI assistant for specific needs.‍
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3. Memory (Saved Info) allows Gemini to remember your preferences and important details across conversations. This gives the AI a long-term memory of your personal context, making interactions feel more natural and tailored.‍
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4. Custom Instructions (implemented through Saved Info) set default behaviors for Gemini. The AI follows these instructions in all answers unless told otherwise, ensuring responses consistently align with your preferences.‍
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5. User control and transparency are central to Gemini's personalization design. Your custom settings are private, and Gemini typically indicates when it's using your saved information, maintaining your awareness and control.‍
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6. Combining personalization features creates a powerful, multi-layered customization that can transform generic AI into a highly specialized assistant tailored to your exact specifications.‍
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7. Personalization is an iterative process that improves over time as you refine your custom settings based on experience and changing needs.

What's Next?

Now that you understand how to personalize Gemini, the next chapter will explore "Gemini Features You Should Know" – highlighting the advanced capabilities that set Gemini apart from other AI assistants, including:

• Multimodal processing of text, images, and audio
• Extended context windows for handling large amounts of information
• Advanced reasoning capabilities for complex problems
• Integration with Google's broader ecosystem

These powerful features, combined with the personalization techniques you've learned in this chapter, will help you leverage Gemini's full potential.

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