Google’s AI ‘learning companion’ takes chatbot answers a step further

Google’s Learn About AI tool has more educational, textbook-style responses to guide you through new topics.

by Umar Shakir

Nov 11, 2024, 11:36 PM UTC

site with prompt that asks “why to some sea creatures glow?” with an image of a red orange jellyfish

Google’s Learn About website.

Image: Google

Part Of

From ChatGPT to Gemini: how AI is rewriting the internet

see all updates

Google has launched an experimental new AI tool called Learn About, which is different from the chatbots we’re used to, like Gemini and ChatGPT. It’s built on the LearnLM AI model that Google introduced this spring, saying it’s “grounded in educational research and tailored to how people learn.” The answers it provides have more visual and interactive elements with educational formatting.

We tested Learn About and Google Gemini with a simple prompt: “How big is the universe?” Both answered that “the observable universe” is “about 93 billion light-years in diameter.”

However, while Gemini opted to show a Wikipedia-provided diagram of the universe and a two-paragraph summary with links to sources, Learn About emphasized an image from the educational site Physics Forums and added related content that was similarly focused more on learning than simply offering facts and definitions.

The screenshot answer of Learn About’s response to “how big is the universe?” with suggested topics to follow up, related content links pointing to educational-themed articles and videos.

Learn About’s answer to “How big is the universe?”

Screenshot: Jake Kastrenakes / The Verge

A screenshot of Google Gemini’s response for “how big is the universe” with facts, a wikipedia diagram, and links to sources.

Gemini’s answer to “How big is the universe?”

Screenshot: Jake Kastrenakes / The Verge

Learn About’s response also created textbook-style boxes that give you additional context like “why it matters” and ones that help you “Build your vocab” with word definitions. In the sidebar, additional topics appear to continue exploring using the tool.

We also asked Learn About “What’s the best kind of glue to put on a pizza?” (Google’s AI search overviews have struggled with this one in the past), and it managed to get that one right, even if the “common misconception” sticker makes us wonder how many times this question has been asked.