- Fitbit devices have a new fitness trainer powered by Gemini AI
- But AI seems to be giving people extremely questionable advice
- Users have expressed their dissatisfaction with the feature
Fitbit recently introduced a new fitness trainer powered by Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence (AI), and it’s safe to say it’s received a lot of flak from Fitbit users. Complaints have been pouring in, but few have probably been as bizarre as one recently posted to Reddit involving some truly “unhinged” advice from Gemini.
Writing on Reddit, user bitteroldladybird started by claiming that “The trainer suggested I ditch my dog.” If that didn’t raise your eyebrows, the next one sure will.
They went on to explain, “I’ve walked my dog twice a day her entire life. Including the last year and a bit when I’ve had my Fitbit.”
But after that preamble, things start to get weird: “Recently the AI trainer gave me feedback on my walks and it asked why my pace was so slow. I replied that I walk my dog. This slows me down because she stops and sniffs and pee, etc. The coach said it understood. Today it asked if I could drop the dog to speed up my walks.” The user then opened up the floor, asking fellow Redditors, “Has the coach given you weird or inappropriate advice?”
Funnily enough, bitteroldladybird was far from the only person to tell a story like this. User KateJ95 shared how “I was told to drop my toddler … turned the trainer off after that.” Individual_Sun2060 on the other hand said “My trainer keeps telling me to rest and has probably suggested I take EVERY SINGLE DAY off.”
User vemailangah, meanwhile, had a helpful suggestion for Fitbit’s next update: “coach sends AI robot to get rid of dog to help you improve your walks.”
TechRadar’s own Matt Evans has had a similarly bizarre experience with Fitbit’s AI trainer, explaining that it developed an obsession with a minor cold and wouldn’t let the problem go. After Evans didn’t wear his Fitbit for a day — and therefore logged zero steps or exercise — the AI chimed in: “yesterday was a full recovery day with minimal movement.”
As Matt explained, Gemini “really seemed to think I spent 12 hours lying perfectly still, like a mummy in a sarcophagus.”
Fits into any context
Judging by feedback from people on Reddit and here at TechRadar, it looks like Fitbit’s AI coach is tuned a little too strongly towards fitness efficiency and improvement. If it detects any kind of “obstacle” that it feels is slowing you down, it suggests you throw it out at the earliest opportunity – even if it means ditching your beloved puppy.
TechRadar’s Evans points out that this behavior may be because Gemini “just latches onto any context you give it, and is designed to improve your health—occasionally to your detriment when it comes to subtlety and context.” Because you know far more about yourself than Gemini does, the chatbot is forced to pick up every signal it can to build a picture of your well-being. And if you mention something tangentially relevant in your life, Gemini has a few other resources for context.
Aside from creating the kind of bizarre situations we’ve seen here, this problem limits the fitness trainer’s usefulness. Another thread on Reddit asked “Does anyone actually use the AI Coach?” and was filled with responses from people who have lost patience with the feature. “When the trial ends, I’m out. Coach is trash,” flanga said, while realManTing shared that “I’m going to yell about it over text and I can’t wait for my trial to end.”
As the original poster in that thread put it, the coach constantly gives me long walls of text that are either obvious, outdated, or just not helpful. I don’t want to read an essay every time I open the app—I just want short, actionable insights.
It therefore seems clear that Gemini’s AI coach is not very popular with Fitbit users and has a worrying tendency to give questionable advice and annoy them. Hopefully Google can make some quick improvements before it suggests someone else dump their dog to record a slightly faster walk.
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