5 things we want Google Assistant to do better
Recent years have seen fierce competition emerge in the segment of artificial intelligence assistants, with large companies such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google's assistant, who participate in the incursion with their own virtual help.
However, with the type of footprint that Android has in the current consumer market, the Google Assistant could be said to have an advantage over its peers.
Nonetheless, it has some not-so-trivial bits in its armour, and we're hoping that Google will incorporate these features sooner rather than later.
Improved Continuous Conversation Experience - Last month, Google introduced a continuous conversation feature with the Google Assistant for smart screens. Basically, this means that you can ask several questions to Google Assistant starting with a single query and deepening each answer.
Previously, the device stopped listening after a single chain of action was taken. Now, you can continue talking to the Google Assistant, beyond a single answer.
However, the experience so far has been a bit clumsy. Google Assistant can continue with a more objective chain of thought, but it is delayed when asked about subjective things.
For example, if you are visiting a new city, you can ask Google Assistant about some basic information, but if you still have a question about fun things to do there, the Assistant Google Assistant will be lost.
On the other hand, you may be able to give some more answers while you ask a more direct objective question, such as "When did India get independence?"
The way in which the user interacts with the Google Assistant would change enormously once Google can improve this functionality.
In addition, more exchanges between the user and the Google Assistant will mean more recordings of people's voices, which can ultimately improve the conversational understanding of the assistant.
Suggest Routines - Routine functionality allows users to create custom voice commands in the Home application or perform multiple tasks with a single command.
For example, you can create a routine activated by "Goodnight Google" that will enable Do Not Disturb on your phone, turn off the lights and execute actions that play music that induces sleep.
The idea behind the routines is not only to give people the ability to multitask at the same time, but also make it part of their daily habits.
Samsung introduced Bixby Routines last month, which tracks user interaction with smartphones and makes proactive suggestions about things to do.
Therefore, if these suggestions were extended to the Google Assistant Routines, it would help people to realize what is possible, even if they choose not to add the suggested routine.
Send text messages using home speakers - Google Assistant offers a seamless user experience when sending text messages on an Android phone. Now he is also able to send and read Google Maps messages. However, the same capacity is not yet available for home speakers.
However, there is a way you can send messages to home speakers today. The transmission function in the Google Assistant allows you to send text messages to people in your home, which is not the same as the ability to send text messages through local speakers.
We hope that Google will offer this functionality to domestic speakers in the near future so that you can stay connected to a wider circle of people that interest you.
Get a Productivity Mode - A productivity mode could change the Google Assistant game.
Currently, in sleep mode, smart Google Assistant screens act as a digital photo frame. If Google could implement features such as the calendar, the routine on the default page would change the way people interact with the Google Assistant.
Small things, such as proactive reminders of when your next meeting is scheduled or when the store you plan to visit closes, can help you quickly track certain tasks.
Maybe launch a Friday Night Mode, while they're at it?
Give Daily Summary - Like most virtual assistants, Google also focuses on providing a perspective of what is coming. It would be an interesting addition if Google Assistant could provide a summary of recent events or daily summaries.
With Google Fit, it already provides historical data on the steps, heart rate and sleep cycles. Even Google Maps stores the locations you visit.
Adding the ability to revisit the Google Assistant arsenal would be beneficial for users, as a Harvard study found that people who booked 15 minutes to summarize what they did on a business day found improvements in their place of performance.