Changes we're making to Google Assistant • Hacker News Board

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#51

Post by Bartkusa » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:38 PM UTC

eterm wrote: post #20

Wow that's a big list of surprisingly useful features being ripped out. I'd already noticed my new phone (pixel 8, I fucking hate it) had trouble setting a simple timer with a voice command ( last time I tried it gave me a shitty youtube video result of a 10 minute timer!?!), but this list of removed features goes further, removing other basic functionality from voice assistance. If all a voice assistant can do is go…

> Managing a stopwatch on Smart Displays and Speakers. You can still set timers and alarms.

How much does this cost to maintain? A stopwatch? They’re axing a STOPWATCH?!

This is embarrassing.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#52

Post by HarHarVeryFunny » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:40 PM UTC

jacooper wrote: post #25

TBH all Classic voixe assistants are terrible, they should be replaced with any of the mainstream LLM models we have.

To me the problem isn't lack of language understanding - it's more lack of integration with useful actions, although LLM support would certainly help with feature discovery and flexible invocation of actions.

Presumably Google Assistant is on it's way to being replaced by ChatGPT with plugins, although these would need access to phone APIs to do local stuff.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#53

Post by ethbr1 » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:41 PM UTC

pflenker wrote: post #40

afavour wrote: post #30

To me this highlights the core failure with all these voice-driven UIs: you have absolutely no idea what is possible and what isn't. Discoverability is zero, which makes big changes like this even more disruptive. I've already decided that I'm done with Google's smart assistant stuff in any case. I have a Google Home with a screen in my kitchen and the most-used feature (aside from just existing as a photo frame) was…

On top of what you mentioned in your first sentence, any ideas to improve discoverability are horrible. I hate it when Alexa does not play my podcast right away but explains to me how I can change episodes. I despise Alexa for telling me that I have some notification before starting my timer. And so on - any voice only attempt to explain me something without me asking for it means adding a lot of friction between me…

The issue is that everyone removed hierarchical menus and replaced them with... nothing.

There is no command ontology anymore. Consequently, discovering commands in-app is UX anathema.

"Use the internet, buddy. One of our customers probably documented how-to somewhere on it."

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#54

Post by 1234letshaveatw » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:50 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #30

To me this highlights the core failure with all these voice-driven UIs: you have absolutely no idea what is possible and what isn't. Discoverability is zero, which makes big changes like this even more disruptive. I've already decided that I'm done with Google's smart assistant stuff in any case. I have a Google Home with a screen in my kitchen and the most-used feature (aside from just existing as a photo frame) was…

you can tell someone lives in California when the most-used assistant feature isn't asking about the weather

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#55

Post by afavour » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:53 PM UTC

1234letshaveatw wrote: post #54

afavour wrote: post #30

To me this highlights the core failure with all these voice-driven UIs: you have absolutely no idea what is possible and what isn't. Discoverability is zero, which makes big changes like this even more disruptive. I've already decided that I'm done with Google's smart assistant stuff in any case. I have a Google Home with a screen in my kitchen and the most-used feature (aside from just existing as a photo frame) was…

you can tell someone lives in California when the most-used assistant feature isn't asking about the weather

Quite the opposite. I bike the kids to school every morning. The weather is too important to be summed up by a voice summary, I need the hour by hour details.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#56

Post by leviathant » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:53 PM UTC

I think because I have Google Fi, I kept getting Google Home products. We've got a couple of the little speakers, and a couple of the little Nest hubs. I bought a pair of Nest Home Max speakers when they were blowing them out, because people said they sounded good - they do!

All this is to say I'm fairly late to the voice assistant party. At some point my wife and I decided to give it a good try. Read up on best practices. Figured it'd been something that had been in market a good long time, maybe by now the kinks were worked out.

The search results were hit or miss. It was not clear where tasks were being saved to.

So for the last few years, here are the voice commands we've used:

ok google, what's the weather today

ok google, play white noise

ok google, stop

...and every now and then, we ask it to search for info on a topic and it fails comically. I'm not surprised to see a big shift here.

Oooh. On my Pixel, I do use "OK Google, Turn off the flashlight" - that IS helpful.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#57

Post by firtoz » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 4:55 PM UTC

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #39

firtoz wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything else that allows me to set alarms and timers without having to touch my phone?

"Hey Siri, set 10 minute timer". But I suppose you meant for Android ?

Android indeed, or anything that's not Apple nor Amazon nor some other "all your data are belong to us".

I know there are some cool DIY hacker projects out there, maybe I should really get my hands dirty tbh? In that case, does anyone know any good links to things they tried recently? Especially with Whisper.cpp and so on it may not be TOO hard on a Raspberry Pi... right?

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#58

Post by crimsoneer » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 5:15 PM UTC

nickcw wrote: post #41

I read the title of this and thought - yes - at last - Google are going to be integrating LLM capabilities with Google Assistant to make it really really useful instead of occasionally useful with a side helping of frustration at how little it understands. Instead this seems to be a list of useful features that are being taken away! I'm disappointed. Google employ some of the best AI/ML engineers in the world and the…

Agreed, this is so mystifying. Google Assistant is such an obvious use case.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#59

Post by nemothekid » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 5:43 PM UTC

You'd think with all the noise about how awful Siri is you would see Google crushing voice integrations as a top 3 advantage. Now I'm left wondering if the reason Apple has abandoned Siri and Homepod is because they are fundamentally flawed products.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#60

Post by speg » Fri, Jan 12, 2024, 7:08 PM UTC

afavour wrote: post #42

paradox460 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The removal of the AnyList integration drove us to get an Alexa assistant device in the kitchen. It still works there Never thought amazon would have the better assistant ecosystem. Google already has my email and calendar and other stuff, Amazon I have to auth into them like a third party. But it's become true

I've been meaning to get around to trying an Apple HomePod Mini, the AnyList integration on my iPhone works okay (thought as an infuriating two-step process, "Hey Siri, add to shopping list" ... "milk") so hopefully it would be replicable on the pod, too. Seems like the least worst option.

I do this on my HomePod mini all the time. Take last apple out of fridge? “Siri, add apples to my grocery list.”

Boom, done. Synced with my wife too. This is using the Apple Reminders though, as it seems to have less friction than third party apps…