GoKawiilJoe Maring / Android Authority
We didn’t see it coming (honestly, neither did Apple), but Google just showcased what could perhaps be the biggest moment for AI: Gemini Intelligence. It brings to reality Gemini’s agentic mode that we have all been dreaming of: where AI can execute multi-step tasks on your behalf as you watch your phone screen do things on its own, as if it were a moving newspaper from a Harry Potter movie.
Gemini Intelligence does appear futuristic, and honestly, it is tempting enough that I’d want to try it out. But once you step back away from its dazzle, you realize that it fundamentally changes how we interact with our smartphones. If Gemini can search, plan, compare, reply, and execute tasks on my behalf, where exactly do I come into the process? Do I actively participate, or just hover over its actions to supervise it? Do I only approve what AI has already done, or let it mess up and come to me later to fix things?
And, most important of all, does Android have any purpose of its own left anymore?
What worries you most about agentic AI on smartphones? 24 votes Losing control 13 % Losing curiosity/discovery 25 % Privacy and security risks 54 % Nothing, I’m excited for it 8 %
It’s hard to draw a line with convenience
AI agents are increasingly pushing humans into an ‘approval reality’. Their makers often emphasize that you always have the final say. And Gemini Intelligence gives us a glimpse of phones evolving into devices and systems where a human’s role mostly involves approving AI-generated actions throughout the day. But I don’t want my role reduced to being just a supervisor.
Do companies like Google really believe that an artist paints only to see the final result in front of their eyes, and not for the joy of the process itself? I may be getting ahead of myself, but even as an average tech enthusiast, I genuinely enjoy the painful process of comparing two gadgets until the point my brain feels fried. The eventual purchase is almost always secondary, but it’s the process that creates the attachment to the device.
With AI agents, I'd be accepting someone else's choices — those of a lifeless robot running on a remote server, no less.
And everyone has their own version of this passion. Some like to meticulously put together playlists (which may have evolved from collecting cassettes), while others may feel proud of knowing all the good restaurants in a city at their fingertips. If AI were to completely replace this discovery layer, we would be left as mere passive consumers.
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