Gemini warned me humans might review my chats — but turning it off comes with a surprising downside | Tech Radar

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Gemini warned me humans might review my chats — but turning it off comes with a surprising downside

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I think we all know that the messages we type into AI chatbots aren't entirely private. They can be used to train future AI models, for example, and most AI companies have some version of human review in their training and quality-improvement processes. But when I loaded up Gemini today, it hit me with a warning message that felt more urgent:

"Humans review some saved chats to improve Google AI. To stop this for future chats, turn off Gemini Apps activity. If this setting is on, don't enter info that you wouldn't want reviewed or used."

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I'm not entirely sure why Gemini decided to show me this warning today — I'd not changed anything about my Pro subscription recently — but other users have noticed the same message appearing over the last couple of months.

Anyway, I decided to turn it off, since nobody wants other people reviewing their chats, and that's when I discovered the hidden cost that Gemini asks users to accept.

I clicked through to Gemini Apps Activity to turn the feature off. First, a bit of explanation about why the setting is called "Gemini Apps Activity", because it has very little to do with what most of us would think of as apps.

"Gemini Apps Activity" is really a legacy Google naming convention. It essentially means your interactions with Gemini and connected Google services. Because Gemini can reach into Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and other Google products, Google treats it as part of a broader activity ecosystem rather than simply a chatbot chat log.

Confusing naming convention aside, let's look at what turning the setting off actually does. Here's the kicker: if you disable Gemini Apps Activity, Google will only let you continue conversations if you respond within a 72-hour window. After that, they disappear.

So, imagine you start a conversation with Gemini on Friday evening. Maybe you're planning a vacation, researching a health concern, or working through a complicated career decision. If you don't return to that chat within 72 hours, Gemini won't keep it around. This means that the privacy-friendly option comes with a surprising consequence: your AI assistant stops being able to remember long-running conversations unless you are frequently updating them.

For quick questions, that limitation may not matter. But for the kind of ongoing conversations AI companies like to encourage — planning projects, exploring ideas, or seeking advice over time — it feels like a significant compromise.

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I don't want to accept that limitation to my Gemini chats, so right now I'm stuck with allowing Google staff to review my chats and use them as training data.

Chat GPT and Gemini both offer ways to limit how your conversations are used, but they frame the choice differently. In Chat GPT, I can switch off Improve the model for everyone and continue using the service much as before. In Gemini, the decision is wrapped up in the broader Gemini Apps Activity setting, where turning it off also means giving up long-term chat history.

At a time when AI companies are pushing users to treat chatbots as personal assistants, therapists, life coaches, and memory systems, Gemini is simultaneously reminding users that some conversations may be reviewed by humans while making it harder to maintain long-term conversations if you opt out.

In Chat GPT, if you select Settings, go to Data Controls, and turn off Improve the model for everyone, you're good to go without any impact on your saved conversations.

With Chat GPT, opting out feels like changing a privacy setting. With Gemini, it feels like making a tradeoff that users shouldn't have to make.

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Graham is the Senior Editor for AI at Tech Radar. With over 25 years of experience in both online and print journalism, Graham has worked for various market-leading tech brands including Computeractive, PC Pro, i More, Mac Format, Mac|Life, Maximum PC, and more. He specializes in reporting on everything to do with AI and has appeared on BBC TV shows like BBC One Breakfast and on Radio 4 commenting on the latest trends in tech. Graham has an honors degree in Computer Science and spends his spare time podcasting and blogging.

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News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards