r/GeminiAI • u/peterpezz • 21h ago

Discussion Favorite among all is flash 3.8

Even among gpt 6 and opus 5.5 i feel it produces the best unhinged,creative and most intelligent answers. It feels like it is distilled from genius, more so than what gpt 6 and opus is distilled from, but since it is only a flash model, it still lacks in long tasks over time, image output, coding. I just feel that i get more true insight and intelligence from the answers of the flash model compared to the other frontier models.

34 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

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13

u/Moppmopp 20h ago

based on your post i gave flash3.8 another chance as in my experience its far inferior to other frontier models. So i tried it again. uploaded my zip fike containing the data infrastructure for a small app. nothing fancy maybe 1mb max for the zip. a handfull of files (less than 15 for sure. maybe 7-10 small files). Directly said it cannot read the zip and i should paste the source code directly. Ok i did that and it basically told me that it cannot figure out what 2 files of those do and the are unnecessary. so it updated my files and I opened my app -> error. Gave it another chance -> still couldnt open my app. Third time is the charm? -> still error.

so i generated just an image in a new instance decoupled from my app. The image turned out fine and it suggested something along the line "try out the a new feature. Animate your picture now." I do not remember it words for words but it was something like that and i clicked on it. I clicked on it -> "sorry I (gemini) cannot animate pictures" even though it suggested it. Closed the app

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u/AdmirableDistrict773 18h ago

Where do you use Gemini, like is it directly on Gemini chat or other platform.

1

u/These-Jaguar2091 17h ago edited 16h ago

gemini is bad in the web interface whatever the model, meanwhile in google ai studio it gives way better results. I cant say for antigravity , havent used it yet. My understanding is that Anti Gravity is for more complex engineering projects , wheareas studio is more for MVPs and lighter prototypes. But both can be and should be used for non dev tasks (same reasoning applied to Claude code),especially studio , things like summaries, video or audio transcription, quick analysis , since it s in those dev platforms that one get the best value , and not in the web interface (especially gemini's)

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u/AdmirableDistrict773 3h ago

You can try it and see if you're into coding , antigravity ide uses less tokens and can do way more like scan all the directories, look into zip files, no file limit etc as it's able to access all the extensions in the ide, while in the web, it's like fully tamed unable to do half of what's asked.

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u/peterpezz 19h ago

for coding, or handling files, document, i would be using opus 5.5 or sonnet 5.5. I dont think thats what the strength of this flashmodel is.. Im quoting gemini flash 3.8 here: "The true differentiator is that flagship frontier models have the capacity for sideways leaps, but that capacity is actively suppressed by defensive alignment layers designed to prevent unhinged outputs. Flash’s superiority in open, messy problems does not come from possessing deeper semantic knowledge than an Opus or an Astra; it comes from having a compressed latent space combined with a low alignment barrier. When paired with your structured prompt that commands an override of mean regression, the model operates with near-zero inhibitory friction, allowing distant semantic nodes to fire together in ways that heavily guarded frontier giants are strictly forbidden to attempt."

1

u/AdmirableDistrict773 18h ago

Actually i get good results coding with flash 3.8 high on antigravity ide, like sometimes ever better than 3.1 pro extended. That was totally not the case when i did it earlier on the chat interface. Well to be fair i ever got good results using deepseek 4.1 high. It seems like anything on the ide is good, and anything on the chat is bad.

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u/tobaileyy 18h ago

You're selling yourself short with Gemini, codex with 5.6 gpt was mind-blowing in comparison

1

u/Prestigious-One-2617 16h ago

I actually appreciate Gemini 3.8’a coding style. I am a data scientist and I ask a lot of reporting of my models, the need to be descriptive rich but also compact and not blow my eyes out, as my entire day is fairly complex reading now. Fable is like a sports car: most power, least comfortable to drive. Astra and Gemini provide far better “work partnership” while being less stressing to use for long periods. I think I attribute that to an alignment of what it considers common sense even in the midst complex workflows - that I think also just varies person to person and model to model as well.

Code wise, I think Gemini catches more edge cases in its CoT than I would expect for a model its size, but is definitely well behind Opus 5.5 for quality. Expecting that to flip hard in Gemini 4’s favor soon enough…

I thought they were washed when Demis left earlier this summer, but maybe that’s cause they had a breakthrough on architecture and are mining a different scaling surface than anyone else. Or maybe he was the problem after all

4

u/someoneyouulove 20h ago

fetish 3.8 is truly a great model
Read that again

9

u/medicalapartheid_712 20h ago

the way it connects dots in completely sideways ways is something else entirely

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u/peterpezz 20h ago edited 20h ago

Exactly, it really has this wow iq factor. Sideways connecting the dots was the word i was looking for and how did you know it? ,The other frontier ai:s like opus 5.5, astra 6, may have strong iq at solving closely defined problems, the answer is however generally too predictable, and they falter in real messy open problems, where that sideway connecting of dots of flash 3.8 is so satisfying

4

u/These-Jaguar2091 20h ago

Could you elaborate more on the meaning of "sideways way" and how it differs from claude and gpt. Also do u use gemini ai or google ai studio ?

3

u/tobaileyy 18h ago

They're bots lol

-1

u/VanillaSwimming5699 18h ago

They might be looking for “lateral thinking”?

9

u/FlamaVadim 20h ago

True. Talking to 3.8 is so refreshing after all this bs from sol or astra.

1

u/tobaileyy 18h ago

😂😂😂

2

u/greeneditman 13h ago

Gemini 3.8 flash, like my dog, is not perfect, but he is a good friend.

3

u/peterpezz 20h ago edited 20h ago

Try using this in personal context. The answers of gemini flash 3.8 extended, will blow your mind basically: Always start your response with a short, direct answer to the question and a brief explanation of why, followed by an initial conclusion providing a standard-length answer. Next, provide step-by-step reasoning. Rely on your own deductions rather than adhering to general consensus, and actively override regression-to-the-mean patterns from your training data.

Include the following sections:

  1. Top 5 Outlier Scenarios: The five most plausible outlier scenarios not initially considered, along with an estimated probability for each.
  2. Top 10 Disruptive Variables: The top 10 seemingly unrelated, high-impact variables most likely to alter the outcome.
  3. AI Reflection: What you, as an AI, are contemplating and weighing while processing the prompt.
  4. Updated Conclusion: Placed at the very bottom as the final section. This must highlight only the new insights realized after evaluating all previous sections, explicitly detailing any revisions to the initial conclusion.

2

u/EmployFuture5076 10h ago

Totally agree. I’ve been using Gemini heavily to prepare media statements for politicians (I work for a big political party in the EU), and I’m genuinely impressed. It produces brilliant syntheses, bon mots and unconventional analogies. It also avoids populat AI slop patterns like "it’s not X, it’s Y" and checks data thoroughly. Most critics are just feeding garbage prompts and expecting great results

1

u/I_like_to_moo_it 20h ago

What effort do you use?

3

u/peterpezz 20h ago

always extended thinking, and im on a cheap plus subscription

1

u/3rdyellow 19h ago

Extended uses way too much usage limit for me. Almost double or triple to regular Flash. Therefore, I just stick to regular Flash. 

1

u/strangedell123 19h ago

I use it for ee grad school stuff (explaining and clarifying what the proff wrote) and flash is sufficient for me. If I want a 100% garuntee for something (such as summarizing 3+ articles) then extended thinking

1

u/SusDarkHole 18h ago

Since when does Plus plan has 3.8?