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Gemini 3.8 Live and 3.8 Live Extended Thinking

493 points · 328 comments · leumon

  1. Zsfe510asG · · focus · HN ↗
    Gemini is underrated in that it produces the only prose that is somewhat bearable to read.
    1. WarmWash · · focus · HN ↗
      For heavyweight work I have been using Astra, but for rabbit holes and brain storming Gemini is far more enjoyable to interact with.

      I'm worried in their push to catch up on the SOTA front, it's going to lose that natural sounding touch it currently has.

      1. drivebyhooting · · focus · HN ↗
        Mostly because it answers quickly and is more agreeable (too agreeable at times).

        Meanwhile Claude and Astra like to couch all their agreements with caveats and provisos.

        1. mapontosevenths · · focus · HN ↗
          > Meanwhile Claude and Astra like to couch all their agreements with caveats and provisos.

          Sometimes that's what being smart sounds like.

          1. Someone1234 · · focus · HN ↗
            This is commonly why, on Reddit in particular, you can get eaten alive.

            Someone confident but incorrect, can often sound more convincing than someone with actual expertise. The expert must add caveats/hedge, because those are the facts on the ground, whereas the person reciting google can be entirely confident.

            Of course the people judging aren't experts, so they side with confidence and simplicity. Heck, just writing shorter replies on Reddit is rewarded. Nobody reads the articles, let alone a paragraph-long reply.

            That all being said though, there are limits. Sometimes LLMs on high-thinking go off on full tangents based on little, and don't have the self-awareness to bring it back.

            1. nostrebored · · focus · HN ↗
              In my experience actual experts don’t hedge because they have a perspective. They might say “I think”, but avoid weaseling.
              1. mapontosevenths · · focus · HN ↗
                My experience has been very much the opposite of yours.

                To an expert communicating with a layperson is a form of compression. You must turn some very complex idea into one that you suppose the other person can grasp given their limited frame of reference. It's always lossy, and you have to guess how much you can remove without sounding patronizing or being inaccurate. It's tough, and the more you know the tougher it gets.

                Ever done that "explain what happens when I visit Google in my web browser" interview question?

                A sales guy will answer in a sentence. An engineer might be able to talk about it for several days and still not be sure they didn't miss anything important. That much knowledge can actually be detrimental to communication.

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