Tech Desk
Aug 07, 2024
Google Assistant’s fate has been an open question for a long time. Half a decade ago, Google, the search engine giant, was providing Home Mini speakers in a bid to grow its ecosystem.
However, before its ‘Made by Google 2024 event,’ the company unveiled that Google Assistant is adhering around — at least on the Home/Nest side of the fence.
Assistant and Alexa received a pop from the pandemic, as the world was abruptly forced to spend more time at home. However, Google and Alexa seem to have taken their feet off the gas.
There are various reasons why people aren’t living in fully automated smart homes. The assistants at the heart of these plays have had their struggles. Samsung’s Bixby and Microsoft’s Cortana went away entirely.
Previously, Google allowed beta users to decide to make its generative AI platform Gemini the default assistant on their Pixel devices.
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Gemini’s role in propping up Google Assistant is expected to remain vague, but the most obvious application is natural language.
“You won’t have to phrase your question in a specific way — ask it in the way that feels most comfortable to you,” Google said. “For example, ask ‘Is Pluto a planet?’ and then dig deeper with ‘Could they change their minds again?’
Can’t figure out the name of that song? Just ask Google, ‘What’s that iconic basketball theme song.’ Or Assistant can tap into Gemini’s generative capabilities to have fun during a family discussion, like ‘Help me make the case that Crocs are extremely cool — and mention sport mode.’ ”
Those enhancements are said to be released later for Nest Aware subscribers as part of a public preview.
Other applications for Gemini include the ability to summarise information, a feature at the centre of Google’s push to integrate generative AI into its search offerings. Whether Google sticks with Google Assistant or decides to call it Gemini across the board is a question of branding.
