Chatbots are becoming simpler over time, and Google does not want to miss the train. In mid-September, users of Claude, an AI chatbot developed by Anthropic, noticed a change in its interface. The separation between the Chat tab, which was used for traditional conversations, and the Cowork tab, which handled longer tasks, disappeared. Anthropic's goal is to have all interactions happen in one place, allowing the assistant to adapt more flexibly to user needs. Google is now taking a similar approach with its Gemini AI, which is undergoing a major update. This weekend, a banner appeared in the Gemini interface, announcing that starting November 17, all existing Gemini assistants will automatically be converted into Skills. These Skills are designed to function more like autonomous assistants, similar to the personalized GPTs introduced by OpenAI at the end of 2023. Gems, as they were previously called, allowed users to record instructions for specific tasks, such as proofreading a text or planning a trip. However, each Gem operated as a separate chatbot, which had to be accessed from a sidebar and opened a new conversation, with no knowledge of previous interactions. Skills, on the other hand, follow a different logic, popularized by Anthropic. The company introduced this format for Claude in October 2025 and later made it an open standard. The idea is to move away from having a separate chatbot for each use case and instead use a single agent that can select the right Skill at the right time. Skills retain the principle of recorded instructions, but they can now be integrated into any conversation. Users can call them by typing “/” followed by the Skill name, and multiple Skills can be used in a single request. Gemini can even activate them automatically when it deems them useful. The migration to Skills will happen automatically without user intervention, although Google advises users to download the associated knowledge files for their Gems in advance. The company has not specified which Gems will be retained. While Skills were previously only available to users of Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions, concerns arose that free users might lose access to their Gems without a replacement. According to tests by Neowin, this restriction has been lifted, and all accounts can now create their own Skills. However, access remains limited to users over 18 and requires activating Gemini activity history retention.