The Big Shift: Why Gemini 3 Changes Everything for Course Creators
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: the traditional course model—where you package knowledge into videos and sell access—just got disrupted. Gemini 3 isn’t just another AI update. It’s the first multimodal surface that fundamentally changes how people learn and what they’ll pay for.
This isn’t about doom and gloom. It’s about recognizing a massive opportunity hiding inside what looks like a threat.
What Makes Gemini 3 Actually Different
Until now, AI tools worked with text. Even when you gave them a video, they pulled out the transcript and worked with those words. Gemini 3 does something new: it actually watches the video.
Think about what that means for teaching. Let’s say you teach pickleball. With old AI, you could only help students by describing what to do. With Gemini 3, a student can upload a video of themselves playing, and the AI can coach them on:
- Where they’re positioned on the court
- How they’re holding their paddle
- Their movement patterns relative to their partner
- The visual cues they’re missing
No transcript captures that. This is AI that sees.
The New Mental Model: Community Over Content
“The only thing that I have that is unique to me across all of those tools is my community.”
When everyone has access to the same AI tools—and they do, especially through Google Workspace—your content stops being your competitive advantage. What’s left?
Your community. The people who raised their hand and said, “I’m interested in this topic and I want to learn from you specifically.”
This is a mental shift from:
- Old model: I create valuable content → people pay for access
- New model: I build a community → I create tools and experiences → people pay for transformation
The Three-Part Value Proposition
If content isn’t the value anymore, what is? Here’s the framework:
1. Your Platform and Community
This is your foundation. Not a Facebook group you don’t control—a privately branded campus where your people gather. Build this first.
2. Tools Based on Your Frameworks
Instead of teaching people how to do something, give them tools that do it with them. Here’s the key insight:
“I want to give as many tools as I can to people so that they can do things as opposed to know things.”
With Gemini’s AI Studio, you can build these tools with a single sentence. No coding required. Example: “I want to be able to give you a YouTube URL and create a downloadable study guide based on the content.” One prompt. Working app.
3. Your Personal Presence
Live working sessions. Labs where you build alongside people. Q&A where you help them apply tools to their specific situation. This is what AI can’t replace—you, showing up, being present, helping people navigate.
In Your Context: What This Looks Like
Let’s make this practical. Here’s how this framework applies to different education businesses:
If you teach a skill (photography, writing, coaching):
- Build a community around that skill
- Create AI tools that help people practice (video analysis, feedback generators)
- Run live sessions where you review their work together
If you teach business/marketing:
- Build a community of practitioners
- Create skills packages that automate your frameworks (like a “Profitable Topic Finder” skill)
- Run working sessions where you help apply tools to real businesses
If you teach personal development:
- Build a community for accountability
- Create reflection and journaling tools powered by AI
- Run group coaching where AI handles the information, you handle the connection
The Monetization Stack
Here’s what actually generates revenue in this new model:
- Tools and skills packages – Your processes packaged as AI-powered tools people can use
- Community access – Free tier to build audience, paid tier for working sessions
- Live experiences – Labs, working sessions, group coaching (not webinars or talking-head lectures)
- Done-for-you services – Agency work for people who don’t want to learn or experiment
“I don’t think it’s on the content anymore. It’s on the tools, yourself personally, and the experiences you can give people.”
Why You Need to Move Now
The capabilities of these tools are doubling every three months. What takes effort to build today will be trivially easy in six months—but by then, everyone will be doing it.
The advantage goes to people who:
- Start building their community and platform now
- Experiment with tools even if they’re imperfect
- Get comfortable describing what they want AI to do
The barrier isn’t technical skill anymore. It’s willingness to experiment and fail fast.
Key Takeaways
- Multimodal is the shift – Gemini 3 sees video and images, not just transcripts. This enables coaching and feedback at scale.
- Content is commoditized – Your differentiation is community, tools, and presence.
- Build tools, not courses – Help people DO things rather than KNOW things.
- No code required – Single-sentence prompts in AI Studio create functional apps.
- Time is the variable – These tools double every 3 months. Early movers have advantage.
Discussion Prompts
As you think about applying this to your education business:
- What’s the ONE thing your community comes to you for that AI can’t easily replace?
- What repetitive task could you turn into an AI tool for your students?
- What would a “working session” look like in your subject area versus a traditional course lesson?
Tools Mentioned
- Gemini 3 – gemini.google.com
- Google Flows – flows.workspace.google.com (create agents across Workspace)
- AI Studio – aistudio.google.com/build (build AI apps without code)
- Gems – Custom GPTs inside Gemini
