Software:Google Assistant

From HandWiki
Short description: AI-powered digital assistant from Google
Google Assistant
Google Assistant logo.svg
Google Assistant Pixel.png
Google Assistant on the Pixel smartphone
Developer(s)Google (2016–2023)
Google AI (2023–present)
Initial releaseMay 18, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-05-18)
Written inC++
Operating systemAndroid, ChromeOS, iOS, iPadOS, KaiOS, Linux, Android TV, Wear OS
Platform
PredecessorGoogle Now
Available inEnglish, Arabic, Bengali, Chilean Spanish, Colombian Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese
TypeVirtual assistant
Websiteassistant.google.com

The Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, The Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations,[1] unlike the company's previous virtual assistant, Google Now.

The Google Assistant debuted in May 2016 as part of Google's messaging app Allo, and its voice-activated speaker Google Nest. After a period of exclusivity on the Google Pixel smartphones, it was deployed on other Android devices starting in February 2017, including third-party smartphones and Android Wear (now Wear OS), and was released as a standalone app on the iOS operating system in May 2017. Alongside the announcement of a software development kit in April 2017, Assistant has been further extended to support a large variety of devices, including cars and third-party smart home appliances. The functionality of the Assistant can also be enhanced by third-party developers.

Users primarily interact with the Google Assistant through natural voice, though keyboard input is also supported. Assistant is able to answer questions, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings on the user's device, show information from the user's Google account, play games, and more. Google has also announced that Assistant will be able to identify objects and gather visual information through the device's camera, and support purchasing products and sending money.

At CES 2018, the first Assistant-powered smart displays (Smart speakers with video screens) were announced, with the first one being released in July 2018.[2] In 2020, Google Assistant is already available on more than 1 billion devices.[3] Google Assistant is available in more than 90 countries and over 30 languages,[4] and is used by more than 500 million users monthly.[5]

In October 2023, a mobile version of the Bard chatbot (originally titled Assistant with Bard), was unveiled during the Pixel 8 event in which is set to replace Assistant as the main assistant on Android devices, although the original Assistant will remain optional.[6][7][8]

On January 11, 2024, Google removed 17 feautures from Google Assistant.[9]

History

The Google Assistant was unveiled during Google's developer conference on May 18, 2016, as part of the unveiling of the Google Nest smart speaker and new messaging app Allo; Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained that the Assistant was designed to be a conversational and two-way experience, and "an ambient experience that extends across devices".[10] Later that month, Google assigned Google Doodle leader Ryan Germick and hired former Pixar animator Emma Coats to develop "a little more of a personality".[11]

Platform expansion

File:Google Assistant.ogg For system-level integration outside of the Allo app and Google Nest, the Google Assistant was initially exclusive to the Google Pixel smartphones.[12] In February 2017, Google announced that it had begun to enable access to the Assistant on Android smartphones running Android Marshmallow or Nougat, beginning in select English-speaking markets.[13][14] Android tablets did not receive the Assistant as part of this rollout.[15][16] The Assistant is also integrated in Wear OS 2.0,[17] and will be included in future versions of Android TV[18][19] and Android Auto.[20] In October 2017, the Google Pixelbook became the first laptop to include Google Assistant.[21] Google Assistant later came to the Google Pixel Buds.[22] In December 2017, Google announced that the Assistant would be released for phones running Android Lollipop through an update to Google Play Services, as well as tablets running 6.0 Marshmallow and 7.0 Nougat.[23] In February 2019, Google reportedly began testing ads in Google Assistant results.[24]

On May 15, 2017, Android Police reported that the Google Assistant would be coming to the iOS operating system as a separate app.[25] The information was confirmed two days later at Google's developer conference.[26][27]

Smart displays

In January 2018 at the Consumer Electronics Show, the first Assistant-powered "smart displays" were released.[28] Smart displays were shown at the event from Lenovo, Sony, JBL and LG.[29] These devices have support for Google Duo video calls, YouTube videos, GMaps directions, a GCalendar agenda, viewing of smart camera footage, in addition to services which work with Google Home devices.[2]

These devices are based on Android Things and Google-developed software. Google unveiled its own smart display, Google Nest Hub in October 2018, and later Google Nest Hub Max, which utilizes a different system platform.[30]

Developer support

In December 2016, Google launched "Actions on Google", a developer platform for the Google Assistant. Actions on Google allows 3rd party developers to build apps for Google Assistant.[31][32] In March 2017, Google added new tools for developing on Actions on Google to support the creation of games for Google Assistant.[33] Originally limited to the Google Nest smart speaker, Actions on Google was made available to Android and iOS devices in May 2017,[34][35] at which time Google also introduced an app directory or application directory for overview of compatible products and services.[36] To incentivize developers to build Actions, Google announced a competition, in which first place won tickets to Google's 2018 developer conference, $10,000, and a walk-through of Google's campus, while second place and third place received $7,500 and $5,000, respectively, and a Google Home.[37]

In April 2017, a software development kit (SDK) was released, allowing third-party developers to build their own hardware that can run the Google Assistant.[38][39] It has been integrated into Raspberry Pi,[40][41] cars from Audi and Volvo,[42][43] and Home automation appliances, including fridges, washers, and ovens, from companies including iRobot, LG, General Electric, and D-Link.[44][45][46] Google updated the SDK in December 2017 to add several features that only the Google Home smart speakers and Google Assistant smartphone apps had previously supported.[47]

The features include:

  • Third-party device makers can incorporate their own "Actions on Google" commands for their respective products
  • Text-based interactions and many languages
  • Users can set a precise geographic location for the device to enable improved location-specific queries.[48][49]

On May 2, 2018, Google announced a new program that focuses on investing in the future of Google Assistant through early-stage startups. Their focus was to build an environment where developers could build richer experiences for their users. This includes startups that broaden Assistant's features, are building new hardware devices, or simply differentiating in different industries.[50]

Voices

Google Assistant launched using the voice of Kiki Baessell for the American female voice, the same actress for the Google Voice voicemail system since 2010.[51] It is speculated that from 2016 until present day, the Assistant's default voice is portrayed by Antonia Flynn.[52][53]

On October 11, 2019, Google announced that Issa Rae had been added to Google Assistant as an optional voice, which could be enabled by the user by saying "Okay, Google, talk like Issa".[54] Although, as of April 2022, Google Assistant response with "Sorry, that voice isn't available anymore, but you can try out another by asking me to change voices." if the command is given.[citation needed]

Interaction

The Google Assistant on the Google Pixel XL phone

Google Assistant, in the nature and manner of Google Now, can search the Internet, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings on the user's device, and show information from the user's Google account. Unlike Google Now, however, the Assistant can engage in a two-way conversation, using Google's natural language processing algorithm. Search results are presented in a card format that users can tap to open the page.[55] In February 2017, Google announced that users of Google Home would be able to shop entirely by voice for products through its Google Express shopping service, with products available from Whole Foods Market, Costco, Walgreens, PetSmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond at launch,[56][57] and other retailers added in the following months as new partnerships were formed.[58][59] Google Assistant can maintain a shopping list; this was previously done within the notetaking service GKeep, but the feature was moved to Google Express and the Google Home app in April 2017, resulting in a severe loss of functionality.[60][61]

In May 2017, Google announced that the Assistant would support a keyboard for typed input and visual responses,[62][63] support identifying objects and gather visual information through the device's camera,[64][65] and support purchasing products[66][67] and sending money.[68][69] Through the use of the keyboard, users can see a history of queries made to the Google Assistant, and edit or delete previous inputs. The Assistant warns against deleting, however, due to its use of previous inputs to generate better answers in the future.[70] In November 2017, it became possible to identify songs currently playing by asking the Assistant.[71][72]

The Google Assistant allows users to activate and modify vocal shortcut commands in order to perform actions on their device (both Android and iPad/iPhone) or configure it as a hub for home automation.

This feature of the speech recognition is available in English, among other languages.[73][74] In July 2018, the Google Home version of Assistant gained support for multiple actions triggered by a single vocal shortcut command.[75]

At the annual I/O developers conference on May 8, 2018, Google's SEO announced the addition of six new voice options for the Google Assistant, one of which being John Legend's.[76] This was made possible by WaveNet, a voice synthesizer developed by DeepMind, which significantly reduced the amount of audio samples that a voice actor was required to produce for creating a voice model.[77] However, John Legend's Google Assistant cameo voice was discontinued on March 23, 2020.[78][79]

In August 2018, Google added bilingual capabilities to the Google Assistant for existing supported languages on devices. Recent reports say that it may support multilingual support by setting a third default language on Android Phone.[80]

Speech-to-Text can recognize commas, question marks, and periods in transcription requests.[81]

In April 2019, the most popular audio games in the Assistant, Crystal Ball, and Lucky Trivia, have had the biggest voice changes in the application's history. The voice in the assistant has been able to add expression to the games. For instance, in the Crystal Ball game, the voice would speak slowly and softly during the intro and before the answer is revealed to make the game more exciting, and in the Lucky Trivia game, the voice would become excitable like a game show host. In the British accent voice of Crystal Ball, the voice would say the word 'probably' in a downward slide like she's not too sure. The games used the text-to-speech voice which makes the voice more robotic. In May 2019 however, it turned out to be a bug in the speech API that caused the games to lose the studio-quality voices. These audio games were fixed in May 2019.

Interpreter Mode

On December 12, 2019, Google debuted an interpreter mode in Google Assistant smartphone apps for Android and iOS. It provides translation of conversations in real-time and was previously only available on Google Home smart speakers and displays.[82] Google Assistant won the 2020 Webby Award for Best User Experience in the category: Apps, Mobile & Voice.[83]

On March 5, 2020, Google introduced a feature on Google Assistant that read webpages aloud in 42 languages.[84][85]

On October 15, 2020, Google announced a new 'hum to search' function to find a song by simply humming, whistling, or singing the song.[86][87]

Google Duplex

In May 2018, Google revealed Duplex, an extension of the Google Assistant that allows it to carry out natural conversations by mimicking human voice, in a manner not dissimilar to robocalling.[88] The assistant can autonomously complete tasks such as calling a hair salon to book an appointment, scheduling a restaurant reservation, or calling businesses to verify holiday store hours.[89] While Duplex can complete most of its tasks fully autonomously, it is able to recognize situations that it is unable to complete and can signal a human operator to finish the task. Duplex was created to speak in a more natural voice and language by incorporating speech disfluencies such as filler words like "hmm" and "uh" and using common phrases such as "mhm" and "gotcha", along with more human-like intonation and response latency.[90][91][92] Duplex is currently in development and had a limited release in late 2018 for Google Pixel users.[93] During the limited release, Pixel phone users in Atlanta, New York, Phoenix, and San Francisco were only able to use Duplex to make restaurant reservations.[94] As of October 2020, Google has expanded Duplex to businesses in eight countries.[95][96]

Criticism

After the announcement, concerns were made over the ethical and societal questions that artificial intelligence technology such as Duplex raises.[97] For instance, human operators may not notice that they are speaking with a digital robot when conversing with Duplex,[98] which some critics view as unethical or deceitful.[99] Concerns over privacy were also identified, as conversations with Duplex are recorded in order for the virtual assistant to analyze and respond.[100] Privacy advocates have also raised concerns around how the millions of vocal samples gathered from consumers are fed back into the algorithms of virtual assistants, making these forms of AI smarter with each use. Though these features individualize the user experience, critics are unsure about the long term implications of giving "the company unprecedented access to human patterns and preferences that are crucial to the next phase of artificial intelligence".[101]

While transparency was referred to as a key part to the experience when the technology was revealed,[102] Google later further clarified in a statement saying, "We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we'll make sure the system is appropriately identified."[103][99] Google further added that, in certain jurisdictions, the assistant would inform those on the other end of the phone that the call is being recorded.[104]

Reception

PC World's Mark Hachman gave a favorable review of the Google Assistant, saying that it was a "step up on Cortana and Siri."[105] Digital Trends called it "smarter than Google Now ever was".[106]

Criticism

In July 2019 Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS published an article revealing that third-party contractors paid to transcribe audio clips collected by Google Assistant listened to sensitive information about users. Sensitive data collected from Google Home devices and Android phones included names, addresses, and other private conversations after mistaken hot word triggering, such as business calls or bedroom conversations.[107] From more than 1,000 recordings analyzed, 153 were recorded without the "OK Google" command. Google officially acknowledged that 0.2% of recordings are being listened to by language experts to improve Google's services.[108] On August 1, 2019, Germany's Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information initiated an administrative procedure to prohibit Google from carrying out corresponding evaluations by employees or third parties for the period of three months to provisionally protect the rights of privacy of data subjects for the time being, citing GDPR.[109] A Google spokesperson stated that Google paused "language reviews" in all European countries while it investigated recent media leaks.[110]

See also


References

  1. The future is AI, and Google just showed Apple how it's done Published October 5, 2016, Retrieved July 5, 2018
  2. 2.0 2.1 Bohn, Dieter (January 8, 2018). "Google is introducing a new Smart Display platform". The Verge (Vox Media). https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/8/16860142/new-google-assistant-speakers-screens-lenovo-jbl-lg-ces-2018. 
  3. "Google Assistant is already available on more than 1 billion devices." (in en-US). January 7, 2020. https://blog.google/products/assistant/ces-2020-google-assistant/. 
  4. Ben, Hannes, "The Future of Voice Commerce and Localisation" , Locaria, February 20, 2020
  5. "A more helpful Google Assistant for your every day" (in en). January 7, 2020. https://blog.google/products/assistant/ces-2020-google-assistant/. 
  6. "Google Assistant is having a Windows Copilot moment, and it's all thanks to AI" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-assistant-is-have-a-windows-copilot-moment-and-its-all-thanks-to-ai/. 
  7. Vonau, Manuel (2023-11-23). "Google to let you use 'Classic Assistant' without Bard in the future" (in en). https://www.androidpolice.com/google-use-classic-assistant-without-bard-future/. 
  8. Li, Abner (2024-01-16). "Google might rebrand 'Assistant with Bard' before launch" (in en-US). https://9to5google.com/2024/01/16/google-assistant-bard-rebrand/. 
  9. Google removes 17 features from Google Assistant
  10. Lynley, Matthew (May 18, 2016). "Google unveils Google Assistant, a virtual assistant that's a big upgrade to Google Now". AOL. https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/18/google-unveils-google-assistant-a-big-upgrade-to-google-now/. 
  11. de Looper, Christian (May 31, 2016). "Google wants to make its next personal assistant more personable by giving it a childhood". http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-assistant-getting-childhood/. 
  12. Savov, Vlad (October 4, 2016). "Pixel 'phone by Google' announced". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/4/13161028/google-phone-announced-pixel-xl-price-release-date-specs. 
  13. Bohn, Dieter (February 26, 2017). "The Google Assistant is coming to Marshmallow and Nougat Android phones starting this week". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/26/14728594/google-assistant-android-phones-marshmallow-nougat-rollout. 
  14. Lunden, Ingrid (February 26, 2017). "Google Assistant, its AI-based personal helper, rolls out to Nougat and Marshmallow handsets". AOL. https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/26/google-assistant-its-ai-based-personal-helper-rolls-out-to-nougat-and-marshmallow-handsets/. 
  15. El Khoury, Rita (March 16, 2017). "Google confirms wider Assistant rollout will not reach tablets". http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/03/16/google-confirms-us-wider-assistant-rollout-will-not-reach-tablets/. 
  16. Kastrenakes, Jacob (March 16, 2017). "Android tablets aren't getting Google Assistant anytime soon". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/16/14945500/android-tablets-google-assistant-no-rollout-yet. 
  17. Amadeo, Ron (January 17, 2017). "Report: Android Wear 2.0 to launch February 9". Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/01/report-android-wear-2-0-to-launch-february-9th/. 
  18. Ingraham, Nathan (January 4, 2017). "The Google Assistant is coming to Android TV". AOL. https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/04/google-assistant-android-tv/. 
  19. Singleton, Micah (May 17, 2017). "Google Assistant is coming to Android TV later this year". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648978/google-android-tv-update-assistant-io-2017. 
  20. Amadeo, Ron (February 26, 2017). "Google Assistant comes to every Android phone, 6.0 and up". Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/02/google-assistant-comes-to-every-android-phone-6-0-and-up/. 
  21. Field, Matthew (October 4, 2017). "Google launches Pixelbook as first laptop with Google Assistant". The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/10/04/google-launches-pixelbook-first-laptop-google-assistant/. 
  22. Johnson, Khari (November 11, 2017). "Google Pixel Buds review: Google Assistant makes a home in your ears". https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/11/google-pixel-buds-review-google-assistant-makes-a-home-in-your-ears/. 
  23. Lardinois, Frederic (December 13, 2017). "Google Assistant is coming to older Android phones and tablets". Oath Inc.. https://techcrunch.com/2017/12/13/google-assistant-is-coming-to-older-android-phones-and-tablets/. 
  24. Sterling, Greg (April 22, 2019). "Google takes baby steps to monetize Google Assistant, Google Home". Search Engine Land. https://searchengineland.com/google-takes-baby-steps-to-monetize-google-assistant-google-home-315743. 
  25. Ruddock, David (May 15, 2017). "Google will announce Assistant for iOS soon, in the US only at launch". http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/15/google-will-announce-assistant-for-ios-soon-in-the-us-only-at-launch/. 
  26. Garun, Natt (May 17, 2017). "Hey Siri, Google Assistant is on the iPhone now". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648020/google-assistant-iphone-app-announced-release-date-io-2017. 
  27. Dillet, Romain (May 17, 2017). "Google launches Google Assistant on the iPhone". AOL. https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/17/google-launches-google-assistant-on-the-iphone/. 
  28. Baig, Edward (January 9, 2018). "Google Assistant is coming to smart screens, rivaling Amazon Echo Show". USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/01/09/ces-2018-google-smart-displays-show-and-tell-answers-echo-show/1014846001/. 
  29. Lee, Nicole (January 12, 2018). "CES showed us smart displays will be the new normal". Engadget (January 13, 2018). https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/12/smart-display-android-things-google-assistant-ces/. 
  30. "Google Home Hub—Under the hood, it's nothing like other Google smart displays" (in en-us). Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/google-home-hub-under-the-hood-its-nothing-like-other-google-smart-displays/. 
  31. Miller, Paul (October 4, 2016). "Google Assistant will open up to developers in December with 'Actions on Google'". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/4/13164882/google-assistant-actions-on-google-developer-sdk. 
  32. Low, Cherlynn (December 8, 2016). "Google opens up its Assistant actions to developers". AOL. https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/08/google-opens-up-its-assistant-actions-to-developers/. 
  33. Vemuri, Sunil (March 30, 2017). "Game developers rejoice—new tools for developing on Actions on Google". https://developers.googleblog.com/2017/03/game-developers-rejoicenew-tools-for.html. 
  34. Bohn, Dieter (May 17, 2017). "Third-party actions will soon work on Google Assistant on the phone". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648538/google-actions-android-ios-phones-third-party-app-assistant-io-2017. 
  35. Perez, Sarah (May 17, 2017). "Google Actions expand to Android and iPhone". AOL. https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/17/google-actions-expand-to-android-and-iphone/. 
  36. Whitwam, Ryan (May 18, 2017). "Google Assistant gets an app directory with categories and sample commands". http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/18/google-assistant-gets-app-directory-categories-sample-commands/. 
  37. Davenport, Corbin (May 29, 2017). "Google is offering up to $10,000 to developers making Google Assistant actions". http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/29/google-offering-prizes-developers-making-google-assistant-actions/. 
  38. Amadeo, Ron (April 27, 2017). "The Google Assistant SDK will let you run the Assistant on anything". Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/the-google-assistant-opens-up-to-third-party-hardware-launches-sdk/. 
  39. Bohn, Dieter (April 27, 2017). "Anybody can make a Google Assistant gadget with this new toolkit". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/27/15442994/google-assistant-sdk-smart-speaker-actions-gadgets-raspberry-pi. 
  40. Gordon, Scott Adam (May 4, 2017). "Google voice control comes to the Raspberry Pi via new DIY kit". http://www.androidauthority.com/raspberry-pi-google-voice-control-769527/. 
  41. Vincent, James (May 4, 2017). "You can now use Google's AI to add voice commands to your Raspberry Pi". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/5/4/15541136/google-assistant-raspberry-pi-sdk-voice-hat. 
  42. Gurman, Mark; Bergen, Mark (May 15, 2017). "Google Wants Android and Its Assistant to Power Your Car Too". Bloomberg L.P.. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-15/google-wants-android-and-its-assistant-to-power-your-car-too. 
  43. O'Kane, Sean (May 15, 2017). "Audi and Volvo will use Android as the operating system in upcoming cars". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/15/15640596/google-android-auto-audi-volvo-apple-carplay-io-2017. 
  44. El Khoury, Rita (May 18, 2017). "Google Assistant can now control more appliances and smart home devices including Roomba, LG, GE, and D-Link". http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/18/google-assistant-can-now-control-appliances-smart-home-devices-including-roomba-lg-ge-d-link/. 
  45. Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 17, 2017). "LG and GE add Google Assistant support to fridges, washers, ovens, and more". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15655262/lg-ge-google-assistant-support-appliances-io-2017. 
  46. Wollerton, Megan (May 17, 2017). "Google Assistant makes its way to your large home appliances". CBS Interactive. https://www.cnet.com/news/google-assistant-makes-its-way-to-your-large-home-appliances-google-home/. 
  47. Gartenberg, Chaim (2017-12-20). "Google's latest Assistant SDK updates make third-party speakers smarter" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/20/16802554/google-assistant-sdk-update-new-languages-configuration-settings-actions. 
  48. Gartenberg, Chaim (December 20, 2017). "Google's latest Assistant SDK updates make third-party speakers smarter". Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/20/16802554/google-assistant-sdk-update-new-languages-configuration-settings-actions. 
  49. Pelegrin, Williams (December 20, 2017). "Google Assistant SDK updated with new languages and features". https://www.androidauthority.com/google-assistant-sdk-updated-824752. 
  50. Kapoor, Sanjay; Fox, Nick (May 2, 2018). "Investing in startups and the future of the Google Assistant" (in en). https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/investing-startups-and-future-google-assistant/. 
  51. "The new voice of Google Voice" (in en). http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-voice-of-google-voice.html. 
  52. "Is this the Assistant voice actress?" (in en). October 30, 2017. https://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/79m8qq/is_this_the_assistant_voice_actress/. 
  53. "This is the real voice behind Google Assistant" (in en). February 3, 2022. https://www.slashgear.com/this-is-the-real-voice-behind-google-assistant-22708374. 
  54. "Google on Instagram: "Meet the new voice of your Google Assistant: @issarae! 🤩 She's taking over our story today—follow along or say "Hey Google, #TalkLikeIssa"…"" (in en). https://www.instagram.com/p/B3cPBsalahR/. 
  55. Purewal, Sarah Jacobsson (October 4, 2016). "The difference between Google Now and Google Assistant". CNET. CBS Interactive. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-difference-between-google-now-and-google-assistant/. 
  56. Steele, Billy (February 16, 2017). "Google Assistant now helps with your shopping on Google Home (updated)". Engadget. Oath. https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/16/google-home-shopping-with-google-assistant/. 
  57. Martin, Taylor (February 16, 2017). "Google Home now lets you shop for everyday items with your voice". CNET. CBS Interactive. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/google-home-now-lets-you-shop-for-everyday-items-with-your-voice/. 
  58. Ingraham, Nathan (September 25, 2017). "Order from Walmart by chatting with Google Home". Engadget. Verizon Media. https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/25/google-home-walmart-shopping/. 
  59. D'innocenzio, Anne (October 12, 2017). "Target is joining forces with Google to take on Amazon". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-target-joins-other-retailers-in-offering-voice-shopping-2017-10. 
  60. Amadeo, Ron (April 11, 2017). "Google ruins the Assistant's shopping list, turns it into a big Google Express ad". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/google-ruins-the-assistants-shopping-list-turns-it-into-a-big-google-express-ad/. 
  61. Garun, Natt (April 10, 2017). "Google Assistant's shopping lists are moving to the Home app today". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/10/15242636/google-assistant-shopping-list-update-home-express. 
  62. Bohn, Dieter (May 17, 2017). "You can finally use the keyboard to ask Google Assistant questions". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648472/google-assistant-keyboard-input-announced-io-2017. 
  63. LeFebvre, Rob (May 17, 2017). "Google Assistant now accepts typed and verbal cues". Engadget. AOL. https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/17/google-assistant-now-accepts-typed-and-verbal-cues/. 
  64. Welch, Chris (May 17, 2017). "Google Assistant will soon search by sight with your smartphone camera". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648128/google-assistant-camera-sight-search-feature-io-2017. 
  65. Conditt, Jessica (May 17, 2017). "Google Lens is a powerful, AI-driven visual search app". Engadget. AOL. https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/17/google-lens-brings-ai-understanding-to-assistant-and-photos/. 
  66. Garun, Natt (May 17, 2017). "You can buy stuff with Google Assistant now". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/17/15648132/google-assistant-wallet-integration-order-delivery-io-2017. 
  67. Solsman, Joan E (May 17, 2017). "Google Assistant wants to make buying stuff easier. Just ask it". CNET. CBS Interactive. https://www.cnet.com/news/google-assistant-transactions/. 
  68. Scrivens, Scott (May 18, 2017). "Google Assistant will soon support sending money with your Google account". Android Police. http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/18/google-assistant-will-soon-support-sending-money-google-account/. 
  69. Miller, Paul (May 18, 2017). "You'll soon be able to send money with Google Assistant". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/18/15660728/google-assistant-payment-api-peer-to-peer-money-money-money-io-2017. 
  70. Whitwam, Ryan (May 18, 2017). "Google Assistant on Android now has query history that you can edit or delete". Android Police. http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/18/google-assistant-android-now-query-history-can-edit-delete/. 
  71. Liao, Shannon (November 6, 2017). "Google Assistant can now tell you what song is playing near you". The Verge. Vox Media. https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/6/16615700/google-assistant-shazam-like-what-song-is-this. 
  72. Li, Abner (November 6, 2017). "Google Assistant can finally recognize music and songs, rolling out now". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2017/11/06/google-assistant-song-music-recognition/. 
  73. "Create shortcut commands". Google Support. https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/7390802?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en. 
  74. Murnane, Kevin (May 23, 2017). "How To Set Up Google Assistant's Little-Known And Super-Useful Shortcuts". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/05/23/how-to-set-up-google-assistants-little-known-and-super-useful-shortcuts/. 
  75. Whitwam, Ryan (July 3, 2018). "Google Assistant: Awesome features you need to start using. Trigger multiple commands.". PC World. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3205867/android/google-assistant-tips-tricks.html. 
  76. Tarantola, Andrew (May 8, 2018). "John Legend is one of six new Google Assistant voices". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/08/john-legend-google-assistant-voice/. 
  77. Martin, Taylor (May 9, 2018). "Try the all-new Google Assistant voices right now". CNET. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-all-google-assistants-new-voices-right-now/. 
  78. Garun, Natt (May 3, 2020). "Google will lose its John Legend Google Assistant voice on March 23rd". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/5/21166751/google-john-legend-assistant-end-celebrity-cameo-voice. 
  79. "John Legend's Google Assistant cameo voice goes away March 23". Android Police. March 5, 2020. https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/03/05/john-legends-google-assistant-cameo-voice-goes-away-march-23/. 
  80. Lardinois, Frederic (August 30, 2018). "The Google Assistant is now bilingual". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/30/the-google-assistant-is-now-bilingual/. 
  81. "Getting Punctuation on Speech-to-Text". Google Support. https://cloud.google.com/speech-to-text/docs/automatic-punctuation. 
  82. Byford, Sam (December 12, 2019). "Google Assistant's interpreter mode is coming to phones today". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/12/21010451/google-assistant-interpreter-mode-android-ios-apps. 
  83. Kastrenakes, Jacob (May 20, 2020). "Here are all the winners of the 2020 Webby Awards". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/20/21263445/2020-webby-awards-winners-lil-nas-x-nasa-jon-krasinski. 
  84. Garun, Natt (March 4, 2020). "Google Assistant can now read webpages aloud in 42 different languages". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/4/21164510/google-assistant-screen-reading-feature-accessibility-translation. 
  85. "Google Assistant on Android can now read entire web pages to you". TechCrunch. March 4, 2020. http://techcrunch.com/2020/03/04/google-assistant-on-android-can-now-read-entire-web-pages-to-you/. 
  86. "Song stuck in your head? Just hum to search". Google. October 15, 2020. https://blog.google/products/search/hum-to-search. 
  87. "How to Find a Song by Humming - Google Hum to Search" (in en-US). 2022-10-04. https://www.techmaish.com/how-to-find-a-song-by-humming/. 
  88. Leviathan, Yaniv; Matias, Yossi (May 8, 2018). "Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone". Google AI Blog. https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html. 
  89. Nieva, Richard (May 9, 2018). "Google Assistant's one step closer to passing the Turing test". CNET. https://www.cnet.com/features/google-assistant-duplex-at-io-could-become-the-most-lifelike-ai-voice-assistant-yet/. 
  90. Leviathan, Yaniv; Matias, Yossi (May 8, 2018). "Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone". Google AI Blog. https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html. 
  91. Carey, Bridget (May 9, 2018). "Human or bot? Google Duplex scares me". CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/google-duplex-assistant-bot-deception-scary-ethics-question/. 
  92. Bergen, Mark (May 10, 2018). "Google Grapples With 'Horrifying' Reaction to Uncanny AI Tech". Bloomberg LP. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-10/google-grapples-with-horrifying-reaction-to-uncanny-ai-tech. 
  93. Welch, Chris (May 8, 2018). "Google just gave a stunning demo of Assistant making an actual phone call". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/8/17332070/google-assistant-makes-phone-call-demo-duplex-io-2018. 
  94. Simonite, Tom (October 9, 2018). "Google Duplex, the Human-Sounding Phone Bot, Comes to the Pixel". Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/google-duplex-pixel-smartphone/?mbid=social_twitter_onsiteshare. 
  95. "Duplex, Google's conversational AI, has updated 3M+ business listings since pandemic". TechCrunch. October 15, 2020. https://social.techcrunch.com/2020/10/15/duplex-googles-conversational-a-i-has-updated-3m-business-listings-since-pandemic/. 
  96. "Duplex is getting smarter and making life a little easier". Google. October 15, 2020. https://blog.google/technology/ai/duplex-helpful-updates/. 
  97. Low, Cherlynn (May 11, 2018). "Google's AI advances are equal parts worry and wonder". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/11/google-duplex-ai-tough-questions-answers-now/. 
  98. Gershgorn, Dave (May 12, 2018). "It's Google's turn to ask the questions". Quartz. https://qz.com/1275036/its-googles-turn-to-ask-the-questions/. 
  99. 99.0 99.1 Vomiero, Jessica (May 12, 2018). "Google's AI assistant must identify itself as a robot during phone calls: report". Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/4204648/googles-ai-identify-itself-robot-phone-calls/. 
  100. Jeong, Sarah (May 11, 2018). "No one knows how Google Duplex will work with eavesdropping laws". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/11/17340894/google-duplex-all-party-consent-state-eavesdropping. 
  101. Lulwani, Mona (October 5, 2016). "Personal Assistants are Ushering in the Age of AI at home". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2016/10/05/personal-assistants-google-home-ai/. 
  102. Leviathan, Yaniv; Matias, Yossi (August 5, 2018). "Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real-World Tasks Over the Phone". Google AI Blog. https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html. 
  103. Statt, Nick (May 10, 2018). "Google now says controversial AI voice calling system will identify itself to humans". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/10/17342414/google-duplex-ai-assistant-voice-calling-identify-itself-update. 
  104. Bergen, Mark (May 18, 2018). "Google's Duplex AI Robot Will Warn That Calls Are Recorded". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-18/google-s-duplex-ai-robot-will-warn-that-calls-are-recorded. 
  105. Hachman, Mark (September 22, 2016). "Hands-on: Google Assistant's Allo chatbot outdoes Cortana, Siri as your digital pal". International Data Group. http://www.pcworld.com/article/3122482/android/hands-on-google-assistants-allo-chatbot-outdoes-cortana-siri-as-your-digital-pal.html. 
  106. "Google Assistant: Everything You Need To Know About The A.I." (in en-US). Digital Trends. July 17, 2018. https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-assistant/. 
  107. "Beware! Google Assistant records conversations, and contractors can listen to your bedroom talk any time". The Economic Times. July 12, 2019. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/beware-google-assistant-records-conversations-and-contractors-can-listen-to-your-bedroom-talk-any-time/articleshow/70190336.cms. 
  108. News, Flanders (July 10, 2019). "Google employees are eavesdropping, even in your living room, VRT NWS has discovered" (in en). https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/07/10/google-employees-are-eavesdropping-even-in-flemish-living-rooms/. 
  109. "Data protection authority opens administrative proceedings against Google". August 1, 2019. https://datenschutz-hamburg.de/assets/pdf/2019-08-01_press-release-Google_Assistant.pdf. 
  110. Lecher, Colin (August 1, 2019). "Google will pause listening to EU voice recordings while regulators investigate". https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/1/20750327/google-assistant-voice-recording-investigation-europe. 

External links