You've likely encountered at least one Google AI tool today without realizing it. Google's main AI tools are Gemini (its AI chatbot and underlying model family), AI Overviews in Search, Google AI Studio, ImageFX, and Gemini features embedded in Gmail and Workspace. Each one does something different, and not all of them can be turned off.
What’s less clear is how it all fits together. What’s the difference between Gemini and the Gemini app? Why does Google AI Studio exist? And if you’d rather opt out of some of this, what can you turn off?
This guide covers Google’s main AI tools, what each one does, how to access them, and what to know about your data.
What is Google AI called?
Most of Google’s consumer AI now lives under the Gemini brand. Gemini is a family of large language models built by Google DeepMind. It powers the Google AI chatbot, the AI features inside Gmail and Docs, and the summaries you see at the top of Search results.
Gemini is the name of both Google's underlying AI models and the app built on top of them.
The Gemini app: Google’s AI chatbot
The Gemini app is Google’s answer to ChatGPT. You can access it at gemini.google.com or download it on Android and iOS. Sign in with a Google account, and you’re good to go.
It handles the typical range: answering questions, drafting text, summarizing documents, generating images, and holding back-and-forth conversations. On Android, it can replace Google Assistant as your default phone AI.
The free version handles most everyday tasks well. Paid tiers (Google AI Pro and AI Ultra) unlock more powerful models, higher usage limits, and features like Deep Research. Deep Research is the standout paid feature: it runs hundreds of background searches automatically and produces a detailed, cited report in minutes. Useful for research-heavy work.
What is Google AI Studio?
Google AI Studio is a free, browser-based platform for experimenting directly with Google’s Gemini models. It lives at aistudio.google.com.
The name makes it sound more intimidating than it is. You don’t need to write any code. You can upload files, type prompts, test how different instructions change the output, and work across text, images, audio, and video.
That said, it does sit closer to the technical end of the spectrum. If you want to build something with AI rather than just use it, Google AI Studio is where you’d start. After you’ve refined a prompt, it can generate a code snippet you can take straight into an application. Developers use it to prototype before moving to production.
The practical distinction: the Gemini app is for using AI. Google AI Studio is for building with it.
AI Overviews: What changed in Google Search
If you’ve noticed AI-generated summaries at the top of Google Search results, those are AI Overviews. They launched in the US in 2024 and have since expanded to more than 120 countries.
The feature uses Gemini to pull information from multiple sources and give you a direct answer before you’ve clicked anything. For simple factual questions, it works well. For more complex ones, the quality is more variable. Google has acknowledged that AI Overviews can and do make mistakes, and early versions produced some very wrong answers. It’s always worth verifying anything important against the original sources, not just the overview.
Can you turn off Google AI Overviews?
No, you can’t. According to Google’s support documentation, AI Overviews are a core Search feature and can’t be disabled. You can, however, select the “Web” filter after running a search, which shows only traditional text-based results without the AI summary above them.
Google AI image generator: ImageFX
Google’s AI image generator is called ImageFX, and it's a tool many people haven't come across. It lives at labs.google/fx/tools/image-fx. It’s free, and all it requires is a standard Google account.
You type a description, and it generates four images. The interface is deliberately stripped back: no marketplace, no feed, no premium upsell on every screen. It runs on Google’s Imagen model, which produces photorealistic results that hold up well against more expensive tools.
If you produce marketing visuals, presentation slides, or social content and don’t want to pay for a dedicated design tool, it’s a reasonable starting point. The quality tends to exceed expectations.
Can you turn off Google AI?
It depends on which part you mean.
As we mentioned above, AI Overviews in Search can’t be turned off. Use the Web filter if you want results without the AI summary.
Gemini in Gmail and Workspace appscan be disabled. Go to Gmail settings, navigate to General, and turn off Smart features and personalization. This needs to be done in two places: your personal Gmail settings and your Workspace settings separately.
Gemini Apps Activity is the logging of your conversations. In the Gemini app, tap your profile icon, find Gemini Apps Activity, and select “Turn off.” New conversations won’t be saved once that’s done.
Google AI data deletion: What you need to know
By default, Google keeps your Gemini conversation history for 18 months. Some of those conversations may also be reviewed by human reviewers as part of quality checks, as described in Google's Gemini Apps Privacy Hub. Chats are disconnected from your account before being sent to reviewers, but they’re retained for up to three years.
To delete what’s already there and stop future collection:
Delete past conversations: Go to myactivity.google.com, find Gemini Apps Activity, and remove what you want gone.
Stop future logging: In the Gemini app, go to your profile, then Gemini Apps Activity, then Turn off. There’s an option to turn off and delete all existing activity at the same time.
Auto-delete settings: If you’d rather keep activity on but limit how long it’s stored, you can set it to delete automatically after 3, 18, or 36 months.
One important distinction: if you use a Google Workspace account managed by an employer, Google doesn’t use your Gemini data to train future models by default. Personal accounts don’t get that protection unless you change the settings manually.
How this connects to the way professionals work
The tools above are genuinely useful on their own terms. But the more interesting shift is what happens when they’re embedded into everyday work rather than used as standalone apps.
Gemini inside Gmail can summarize threads, flag important emails, and suggest draft replies. Google’s AI search features reduce time spent on research. For many professionals, the friction around information is lower than it was two years ago.
A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study found that generative AI users saved an average of 5.4% of their working hours, roughly 2.2 hours per week for someone working full-time. Among people who use AI tools daily, a third reported saving at least 4 hours per week. The gains are bigger when AI handles specific, recurring tasks rather than acting as a general assistant that people check occasionally.
Email is the most obvious example of this. According to Fyxer’s research across more than 350,000 inboxes, professionals spend an average of 4.3 hours a day on email alone: sorting, responding, searching, and catching up on threads that may or may not need them.
Gemini in Gmail helps with that. But there’s a real difference between an AI layer added to a general-purpose email client and a tool designed specifically around inbox management. Gmail doesn’t learn your priorities over time or improve its drafts based on how you write. The Fyxer blog’s breakdown of Google’s AI Mode for Gmail covers this well: the new features are useful additions to a tool most people already rely on, but Gmail is still an email client.
Fyxer connects to Gmail and Outlook and focuses specifically on inbox management: it organizes your inbox before you open it, drafts replies in your own voice, and pulls context from your meetings and sent mail. For anyone whose day runs on email, that specificity makes a real difference.
The main Google AI tools at a glance
The sections above cover each tool in more depth. Here’s a quick reference for comparing them side by side.
Gemini app
Google’s AI chatbot is available at gemini.google.com and on Android and iOS. Good for questions, research, drafting text, and generating images. The free tier handles most everyday tasks. Paid tiers (AI Pro and AI Ultra) unlock more powerful models and features, such as Deep Research.
Google AI Studio
A free, browser-based platform for experimenting with Gemini models directly. No coding required, though it’s built with developers in mind. Useful for anyone who wants to build on top of Google’s AI rather than just use it through an existing app.
AI Overviews
The AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google Search results. Powered by Gemini, available in over 120 countries, and built into Search by default. Can’t be turned off, but the Web filter removes them from your results page.
ImageFX
Google’s free AI image generator, built on the Imagen model and accessible through Google Labs. Generates four images per prompt from a plain text description. Minimal interface, no subscription required.
Gemini in Gmail and Workspace
AI features are built into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and other Google Workspace apps. Summarizes threads, suggests replies, and assists with content. Can be disabled through your Google account settings if you’d rather not use it.
Getting the most from Google's AI tools
If you use Google Search, Gmail, or an Android phone, you’re already working alongside several of these tools. Most of them are on by default, and the settings are worth reviewing.
Understanding what each one does is worth the time. And when it comes to the tools that touch your work email, it’s worth being specific about what you want AI to handle, and finding something built for that job rather than something general that happens to include it.
