Gemini is getting rid of Gems, and its replacement aims to make repetitive work a lot easier

Credit: Google Published Sep 30, 2026, 1:02 PM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary Gemini replaces Gems with "skills" and migrates your existing Gems automatically. Skills can be invoked with / (soon @), stacked in chats, and auto-invoke when useful. Build a skill once to speed repetitive tasks: slides, matching your writing, or fresh viewpoints. AI is really good at performing the same task over and over. If you ever find yourself feeding the same input to your LLM multiple times with only one thing that really changes, there are usually features that speed up the process and save all that copy-pasting. Google Gemini had Gems, but it's now being replaced by something simply called "skills." Gemini skills help speed up the monotony of repetitive tasks Set it up once, and you're done As announced in News from Google, Gemini is transitioning away from the Gems system, replacing it with a very similar alternative called 'skills'. By the looks of it, there's not much that's vastly different between the old Gems system and Gemini skills, with Google providing the following examples of use: Prepare for presentations: Build a custom skill to outline slides, craft talking points, and prep for tough Q&As, whether for a class presentation or a project pitch. Match your writing style: Gemini knows your unique writing style across Workspace apps to speed up drafting, all while keeping you in full control. Get more perspectives: Ask Gemini to always provide three to five distinct viewpoints on a topic to help you brainstorm ideas, refine arguments, or commit to a decision. In fact, the systems are so similar that Google will simply move all of your existing Gems over to the skills system as it goes live today. So, why is Google even bothering with this swap? Well, while the new skills system shares a lot of similarities with Gems, there are some key differences under the hood that make it even more useful. In a document about the transition from Gems to skills, Google explains that you can invoke a skill using a / (which will soon become a @), and you can stack multiple skills in a single chat. Plus, Gemini can automatically detect when a skill can come into use and invoke it when needed.