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Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

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Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#131

Post by modeless »

sokoloff wrote: post #104
modeless wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, I just think these new projects based on LLMs should be considered a different category, AI agents or something. The traditional grammar-based voice assistant architecture used by Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, Bixby, etc is an abject failure, and not for lack of trying.

If the Alexa/Echo-category of devices are meant to be some widely flexible and pervasively useful device from Star Trek, they're a failure. If they're meant to be a usable $30 kitchen timer and music player, they're pretty great.

Google Voice Search used internal codename "Majel" in reference to Majel Barrett, who played the voice of the Star Trek computer. That was explicitly the ambition. It just didn't work out.

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#132

Post by ahepp »

ycdxvjp wrote: post #118
chefandy wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Picking up and moving to the “it” tech city assuming you’ll get hired sounds like a great solution… that is, if you don’t have family obligations, or, really… a family, long-term responsibilities of any kind, a chronic health condition, or lack money to support an expensive interstate/city/country move probably with an increased cost of living while unemployed… and all to assume that your employer is going to cast yo…

It's feasible. I have done it. Moved to Singapore and now in South Korea with family. I think experienced people have lot of interesting options. Many don't look.

Moved to Singapore from where? The USA? There was a point where I was investigating opportunities out in Southeast Asia, but I never had a ton of success even finding listings.

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#134

Post by sokoloff »

modeless wrote: post #131
sokoloff wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Alexa/Echo-category of devices are meant to be some widely flexible and pervasively useful device from Star Trek, they're a failure. If they're meant to be a usable $30 kitchen timer and music player, they're pretty great.

Google Voice Search used internal codename "Majel" in reference to Majel Barrett, who played the voice of the Star Trek computer. That was explicitly the ambition. It just didn't work out.

OK. I believe you. They accidentally created something else that was very useful but different from what they set out to do.

Is that a story of failure or of success?

Starbucks launched to sell beans and espresso machines. YouTube launched as a video dating site. Are they also failures?

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#135

Post by ijhuygft776 »

razodactyl wrote: post #37

Why lay-off instead of repurpose? Will we consider smartphones as "Personal Assistants" anytime soon? AI has advanced considerably in terms of what can be processed locally but the restructure seems a bit over the top considering it's still the same concept in a broader sense. It's like laying off a team of developers simply because you changed branding.

maybe the manager(s) corrupted the employees

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#136

Post by karmasimida »

neilv wrote: post #22

So what's a good employer now, now that Google has been losing the reputation for treating employees well? (Multiple rounds of laying off people isn't treating only those people poorly, but also increasing stress for the people who remain, knowing they can suddenly be laid off as well.)

None

There is no job security in this market right now. Even if you have a job, you can be replaced quickly.

Might as well just don't think about it, and prepare for the worst if you are anxious about the future.

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#137

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

modeless wrote: post #21

I don't use any feature of Google Assistant that wasn't present in the original Android voice search feature over a decade ago. And the few features I do use haven't improved in any way that I've noticed. In fact I feel like reliability has regressed. Google could have fired almost the whole team years ago and my user experience would not be different today. I consider voice assistants to be a failed experiment. It's…

I pretty strongly disagree. First, from an accuracy perspective, Google Assistant has gotten much better. It almost never misunderstands me, even when I'm mumbling and I'm surprised it can understand me.

I do agree that the set of actions I use Google assistant for is pretty static and are the same ones everyone else uses it for: What's the weather? Set my alarm? What's the first item on my calendar? Play XYZ on Spotify... But I don't see this at all as a "failed experiment". On the contrary, I see it as a successful experiment, at least from a human utility perspective: I ask it to do a concrete task, and it does it.

The reason it's failed from a larger business perspective is because the format is less amenable to big tech sucking any more of our money or mind out of it. But I say Amen to that! Wherever I go I feel like tech interfaces get relentlessly shittier as they just try to hook us into more mindless scrolling (this HN post on the topic is one of my favorites of all time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37509507) That's just fundamentally harder to do with a voice assistant because nobody has yet figured out how to plug in voice "algorithms" in a way that would make the device control you like they do with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, etc.

If anything, I think the rest of tech that gets you to do things you really don't want to do should be the thing that's considered a "failed experiment".

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#138

Post by elSidCampeador »

netdebugg wrote: post #8
ggm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is, because it suggests that a development arc either has maxed out, or is now subject to a different dynamic. Apple has a team of at most 12 people working on TCP/IP and IPv6. It's arguably one of the most important parts of the software stack. But, it's late stage mature code. Netflix had 4-6 people working on TCP flow control. Google had a small team, based in Japan, doing IPv6 for android. If a team ha…

> Apple has a team of at most 12 people working on TCP/IP and IPv6 Do you know who they are and how to reach them? I have filed 3 or 4 bugs with proper reproducers through Apple's feedback assistant over the years and till this day those issues haven't even received a single comment nor any acknowledgement that the report has been read.

I wonder if this will work - buy a couple (even 1 share should do, now that I think of it) shares of apple, write a letter to investor relations saying you're a shareholder, you've found bugs, you've filed them, nothing's been done, this is very disappointing, etc etc

edit: added the stuff within brackets

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#139

Post by StableAlkyne »

kaashif wrote: post #109
JKCalhoun wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an interesting thought: what if hiring were like bringing a child into your family. No, no layoffs ever. It's the equivalent of disowning your own child. If the company begins to sink, so be it, the whole family goes down together (or flee as they see fit). It would make a company hesitant to hire — they would have to think very long term making a decision like that. Perhaps companies would train (re-train) the…

Then that country would become an extremely unattractive place to hire employees. Massive incentive to do whatever you can to only use contractors or whatever. Somehow classify your employees as self employed, something like that. Maybe it wouldn't even be a loophole: everyone would just have to actually go freelance and have no employee protections. I wonder if any country has anything close to layoffs being illegal…

> Then that country would become an extremely unattractive place to hire employees

Works fine for France, it's very hard to do layoffs there, to the point that a common myth is that they're illegal there. 7th largest GDP. Unemployment rate is at 7% (about 2x the USA), but it's also not the existential risk it is in the US - you are given 75% of whatever your pay was for up to 2-3 years.

> Massive incentive to do whatever you can to only use contractors or whatever. Somehow classify your employees as self employed, something like that.

Going back to France, they'll fine the hell out of a company that did that. Misclassifying your employees to abuse the system is enforced there.

As an American, I am extremely jealous of France's employee protections. Even the most leftist states like CA pale in comparison to the protections the French have.

Re: Google lays off hundreds working on its voice-activated assistant

#140

Post by ertian »

joshspankit wrote: post #119
modeless wrote: post #21

I don't use any feature of Google Assistant that wasn't present in the original Android voice search feature over a decade ago. And the few features I do use haven't improved in any way that I've noticed. In fact I feel like reliability has regressed. Google could have fired almost the whole team years ago and my user experience would not be different today. I consider voice assistants to be a failed experiment. It's…

I think that voice assistants could have been much more usable this whole time if they had avoided getting mired in pushing products/music and instead stayed focused on doing a few things well.

Yes, but there's no money in just being usable.
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