As the old aphorism goes, it takes a village to raise a child. But as a (relatively) new parent, I’ve found that you don’t always have a village handy to help with the seemingly infinite things that crop up when parenting: planning playdates, keeping up with pediatrician visits, figuring out how to travel with a months-old baby and more.
But sometimes, technology can fill in the gaps. Last year, when my wife and I were planning our first real vacation with our daughter — a long weekend in Portland, Maine — we asked Gemini for help with travel planning: “Create a four-day long weekend itinerary for Portland, Maine, for two adults and a 9-month-old baby. Build in time for naps and only recommend kid-friendly places to eat.”
Unfortunately, Gemini can’t physically go and change a diaper or clean up a spilled bowl of yogurt. But by taking on the mental load of travel planning — suggesting activities, scheduling in our daughter’s nap and recommending kid-friendly places to eat — it freed us up to better focus on the important things in life, like enjoying our vacation as a family.
Inspired by that success, I asked other parents at Google how they’re using Gemini to bring some more order to the chaos of children. Here are five ways it’s been helping out.
