Gemini 3, the latest and greatest version of Google’s flagship AI tool, has launched.
At this point, the market is inundated with AI technology that is so impressive and powerful that it’s hard for new models to make a dent in the AI sphere. Remember how in summer 2025, the long-awaited release of GPT-5 was met with what amounted to a collective shrug?
With the release of Google Gemini 3, however, Google has arguably closed the gap with AI rival OpenAI and its flagship AI, ChatGPT.
After using the new version of Gemini, I see several ways in which it can be helpful and will have an impact both inside and outside of the classroom.
What is Gemini 3?
Gemini is Google’s flagship AI tool, and Gemini 3 now powers both the Gemini chatbot as well as AI mode in Google’s search. The tech giant has said in addition to state-of-the-art reasoning and the ability to grasp nuance and depth, Gemini 3 can figure out the context and intent behind queries better.
“In just two years, AI has evolved from simply reading text and images to reading the room,” Google claims. Anything any company says about its own product should be viewed with caution, particularly a tech company talking about its own AI products. Like my grandfather used to say, “Self-praise is no praise.”
Nonetheless, Gemini has earned significant praise outside of Google. The tech publication Tom’s Guide found Gemini outperformed ChatGPT 5.1 in a head-to-head comparison of how both AI chatbots handled various prompts.
In my experience, Gemini 3 is quick to answer and generate responses, and is excellent in the way it performs. I didn’t find it capable of doing anything I couldn’t do with previous models, but it’s a sleek and high-performing tool, kind of like a new phone release that is objectively better than a previous version of a phone but which isn’t better enough to warrant an immediate upgrade.
How Does Gemini 3 Compare to ChatGPT 5.1?
As mentioned above, some have found it to outperform ChatGPT. I also found that was sometimes, but not always, the case. One advantage is that Gemini 3 has a notably more conversational tone. Sometimes this resulted in explanations that were not necessarily better in a technical sense but were better written and therefore more readable.
For instance, I asked both chatbots: Can you give me a quick overview of what antimatter is and the role Paul Dirac played in its discovery?
Gemini 3’s response was notably more to the point and easier to follow. It wrote, “Antimatter is a form of matter made of antiparticles, which have the same mass as ordinary particles but opposite charge and certain reversed quantum numbers,” at the start of the response, which gave a clear picture of antiparticles.
Meanwhile, ChatGPT got a little more technical throughout its response, beginning with, “Antimatter is a form of matter made of antiparticles, which have the same mass as ordinary particles but opposite charge and certain reversed quantum numbers.”
While both responses were helpful, Gemini 3’s was simultaneously easier to follow and more advanced in its explanation as it went along.
What Does This Mean For Teaching?
Gemini 3 is yet another powerful tool that students will have at their fingertips, both for legitimate AI uses and AI cheating. It’s not any kind of game-changer in terms of cheating. Students can certainly use it to cheat, but they could use previous versions of Gemini and other AI models to do that.
However, when it comes to using AI as a tutor or explainer, Gemini 3 does seem to have an edge over other models. It has a better knack for explaining complex topics conversationally. It also does a nice job highlighting its sources, which of course, is important in an education setting.
Another way Gemini 3 will influence teaching and education is through its influence on Google’s AI search mode. While more and more people -- and I suspect young students, in particular -- are turning to various AI tools in place of Google, the traditional Google search is still frequently used, and the default is now for AI search mode to summarize findings. This means that whether they want to or not, students will likely be interacting with Gemini 3, and it's therefore worthwhile for us as educators to familiarize ourselves with it.
Bottom line
Gemini 3 is a major development in the AI world. It won’t change anything right away for teachers, but its casual, well-sourced, and conversational explanations might be a better fit for education long term.
Gemini 3 is definitely a tool educators should keep an eye on and consider experimenting with themselves.
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