Five bugs Google needs to fix in its Assistant before integrating AI with its own “chatGPT”

Artificial intelligence is a revolution. In 2023, we’ll see an explosion of use cases, from chatbots that help with work or homework to image generators whose results look like photos. There is even a boom in new apps that can use sounds or videos to receive results that were unthinkable a few years ago.

One of the most anticipated applications is their integration into voice assistants. Amazon has already announced a much more powerful version of Alexa, capable of speaking almost as if she were a real person. Apple is also working on a new version of Siri, which will be announced at WWDC in 2024. Google is no exception.

(5 ways to quickly activate Google Assistant from your mobile phone)

In fact, there are rumors that the company is developing a new version of its voice assistant that will charge a monthly fee, something we haven’t seen in the voice assistant sector. But before that happens, Google needs to fix some bugs in its assistants. This is partly the fault of the hardware and partly the software.

Shopping list

One of the most useful features of Google Assistant is the ability to create a shopping list by simply writing things down using voice commands. Over the years, this function has changed and evolved. not always for the better. The last change coming now is the requirement to use Google Keep for this.

The problem is that, on the one hand, sometimes you have to create a list manually and call “Purchase” for the system to work. Except, no sound confirmation that the element is added as before, although almost tediously. There is no need to repeat the food and name from the list with every interaction.

But the biggest drawback is the inability to add three or four products with one command. Again, this used to be possible, but now you need to run a wizard activation for each of the products added to the list, which makes the process much more tiring.

Wrong device

If there is only one Google smart speaker in the house, using it is easy because only one can give orders. But since there are several of them, especially in the back rooms, it is almost by chance that one is addressed, and another in another room answers. Moreover, this This is very noticeable when you have two speakers of different quality.

The Google Nest Audio microphones are much more sensitive and powerful than the Google Home Mini. This makes it a common occurrence that when the latter is not spoken to very closely, the former sometimes responds even when he is in another room. Google should improve the sound reception quality of your productsespecially since these are devices designed to be used with voice.

Network disconnection

Having a connected home makes the use of many products dependent on the quality of the Wi-Fi network. This is fine. What doesn’t make sense is that Google speakers almost randomly turn off and say they have no WiFi connection when there has been no change to the router, in speaker positionetc.

Amazon has solved this problem much better, and it is almost impossible for a speaker with Alexa to have connection issues due to the Wi-Fi network. Google needs to significantly improve the interoperability of the product, which, Without the Internet it is practically useless.

whisper mode

Using smart speakers means talking loudly at home. Sometimes this can be inconvenient. Amazon knows this and its Echo has a whisper mode that not only can detect when people are speaking in a low voice, but also responds in the same way so as not to cause discomfort.

Google could have implemented this years ago, but didn’t, probably more due to laziness than technical inability. Likewise, you can have Echo respond to a command with a simple beep instead of repeating the entire phrase out loud. These subtle reactions would also be something like thanks in Nestwhich allow them to be activated only if the tasks were completed in the same room.

Changing the activation command

The last section is something Google has been asking for for years. Almost from the moment the wizard starts: the ability to change the activation word. “OK Google” can be replaced with “Hey Google”, but in the end they are the same thing. In the case of Amazon, in addition to availability word Much more like a human name, it can be changed.

For example, you could activate speakers called “Echo”, but it would still be nice. be able to choose between different options. It is possible that some of them are not suitable for a particular house because of the way they say the names of the members, but it is impossible for all of them to be a problem in a house if several options are given.

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