The spring semester is in full bloom and buzzing with busy students, faculty, and staff. To help you continue on with this productive semester, the Information Technology (IT) team has enabled Google’s Gemini, ready to assist with everyday tasks.

“An important goal for us is to provide safe and equitable access to AI,” said Senior IT Application Administrator Chinam Seto. “We were able to enable Gemini after Google added privacy and data protection to our version, something you don’t get with a personal account.”

Powered by Google’s artificial intelligence (AI), the Gemini app provides a chatbot experience, allowing you to enter prompts and receive AI-generated responses. Gemini is convenient and easy to use as it’s been enabled on all UNLVMail and Rebelmail accounts. Students, faculty, and staff can quickly access Gemini by opening the app or by visiting the site when logged into their account.

Gemini's powerful technology can be used in a variety of ways to help you throughout the semester. Some common AI uses include:

• Brainstorming: Get help generating and exploring new content ideas. This may be especially useful for developing research, working on large projects, or diversifying established ideas.
• Organizing information: Create structured lesson plans or study guides to help organize large amounts of information throughout the semester.
• Increasing productivity: Work more efficiently by summarizing content in emails, documents, and other databases. Additionally, other university-supported AI tools are available to help with this, such as Zoom’s AI Companion.

“I like to use Gemini when creating content for emails and templates,” said IT Office Assistant Amaya Toldson. “It’s great for when I have to put all my ideas together in a concise and effective manner.”  

According to Alethea Inns, safe collaboration and innovation is a priority as we continue to adopt new technology at UNLV. Inns is an instructional technology support specialist for UNLV IT, as well as the co-chair of the Faculty Senate AI Task Force and as a co-facilitator for the Generative AI Fellows Pilot program.

“Our AI services ensure that the work being done with these tools is not only efficient, but also secure,” says Inns. “By enabling tools such as Gemini, we’re allowing our users to rely less on unsupported third party-platforms that may not properly protect user data.”

With enhanced protection for UNLV users, Gemini keeps conversations private from reviewers and does not use your data to train or improve generative AI models. It’s recommended to review Gemini’s best practices before using the tool to ensure optimal and secure use.

For assistance using Gemini and other UNLV IT supported tools, please contact the IT Help Desk.