William Gallagher
Google's long-standing Assistant equivalent of Siri will be updated with AI so that it no longer just answers queries, but can perform tasks automatically.
Google Assistant has been around for a long time, but perhaps hasn't been the overwhelming success it might have been. Now at the company's Made by Google event, the next version of the technology has been shown off, at least in a limited, initial form.
Renamed "Assistant with Bard," as it now integrates with Google's ChatGPT-like service Bard, the plan is that it will become "a more personalized digital assistant."
"We think your digital assistant should make it even easier to manage the big and small items on your to-do list," said Google in an announcement, "like planning your next trip, finding details buried in your inbox, creating a grocery list for your weekend getaway or sending a text. All like a true assistant would."
Google says that for instance, users can "simply float the Assistant with Bard overlay on top of [a] photo and ask it to write a social post for you" about it. And while no details were specified, Assistant with Bard will also integrate with Gmail and Google Docs.
Assistant with Bard will come to Android and the iPhone "in the coming months." Before then, Google plans a beta test period, though it has yet to announce when that will be, or how users can sign up to test the new Assistant.
Separately, Apple is reportedly investing heavily in providing a similar update to Siri. Teams within the company are researching generative AI, and some are working on using this to bring Siri what may be similar features to Assistant with Bard.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
2 Comments
Sigh. All these marketing people want to link product names whenever a company integrates a separate technology into a new or existing product. "We have to tell people; if we don't tell them every time we mention the product, they won't know! And this way we can count mentions of the integrated stuff and claim it has a large impact. And AI is super hot right now so we have to reinforce our brand."
All it ends up being is a mouthful of ridiculous phrases that diffuses the identity of the product they want you to buy. I don't buy a "Ford Ranger with Diesel" or a "Ford Ranger with Petrol" - I buy a "Ford Ranger" and know that it comes in different versions. I don't want an "Assistant with Bard", I want an assistant so I check out all the capabilities - oh, the latest version comes with new AI features? OK, cool.
Some of these people need to learn that you don't tell, you show. Wait for the human brain's association process to kick in - we learn things one at a time and associate the new thing with what we already know. Naming things is hard, but keep it simple and you'll get better results.