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Changes we're making to Google Assistant

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Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#121

Post by happymellon »

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…

A usual conversation my wife had with Google:

> okay Google set a timer for 15 mins

Certainly, and did you know I can also set an alarm for 6 am in the kitchen?

> Fuck off Google

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#122

Post by theptip »

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…

This problem can be solved pretty soon though; given a good enough LLM, and perhaps for power users a configurable set of integrations, you should be able to make any language request, translate it into verbs, and ask for an explanation if you get confusing results. With in-context learning perhaps you can even get to the holy grail of “when I ask for X, please always apply interpretation Y” for personalization.

I think the broader context here is that Google is downsizing the current Assistant team in preparation for an LLM-based replacement, perhaps once Gemini has rolled out.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#123

Post by maaaaattttt »

RandomWorker wrote: post #90
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…

Funny fact is that this is core use case I use siri to add things to the reminders app which I have a smart list called "shopping list." It's amazing how great this is, and how many times I use this.

I second this. My two other derived commands I use every day are “remind in 2 hours to do X” or “remind me Friday at 7 to take Y”. This and “timer X minutes”.

I would be very sad if these were to disappear or to stop working as well as it does now (I like that if I say “remind me tomorrow” when it’s right past midnight it asks for confirmation that I actually mean the same day since it’s “already tomorrow”)

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#125

Post by aristus »

Something that's kinda funny but baffling to me is the unspoken assumption that a UI with voice input should also default to voice output.

That's not how two humans work on command / response tasks, say, hanging pictures. You say, "a finger to the left and up" and I move the picture. Silent UI feedback is a curiously unplumbed idea.

Or another one: if you sit at a restaurant and ask the menu, would you rather they tediously recite it? Or hand you a paper menu while maybe giving a couple tips like "the fish pasta is awesome today"?

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#126

Post by ilzmastr »

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

Funny but true, its usually a front page story in the Chronicle if it is going to rain during the week

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#127

Post by JoshTriplett »

ketralnis wrote: post #116
JoshTriplett wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a guess, based on experiences with using Google Assistant extensively: What do you do if you have statistics saying that, say, a feature is used by a small fraction of users, and 40% of the activations of the feature were in fact not what the user wants, and instead were misunderstandings of requests for something else? Ambiguity is a massive problem.

Be better and misunderstand less often?

Human syntax sometimes has inherent ambiguities.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#128

Post by twisteriffic »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #37
peeters wrote: post #21

Another step in Android's steady progression of become less and less useful hands-free. It's incredible to me that my experience with my Nexus One in 2010 was better than it is today with a Pixel 7. The fact that it arbitrarily decides to not recognize some contacts on some days. The fact that it can't handle me spelling out a street name when it insists on replacing the street name that I'm saying with something com…

Google needs to toss Sundar and get a competent CEO who can forcefully smash the org back into line. Google has turned into these little micro clusters of ideologies and functional philosophies, leading to a horrifically fragmented mess of google branded products. All which come loaded now with end-of-life anxiety as google just farts out products that seem to dissipate just as fast. The fact that most google apps fu…

> Google has turned into these little micro clusters of ideologies and functional philosophies, leading to a horrifically fragmented mess

Every large software org eventually becomes Microsoft.

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#129

Post by Yhippa »

> Viewing the ambient “Commute to Work” time estimates on Smart Displays. You can still ask for commute times and get directions by voice.

They're going to take this little piece of convenience for me that I always use. Sad :-(

Re: Changes we're making to Google Assistant

#130

Post by alganet »

theptip wrote: post #122
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…

This problem can be solved pretty soon though; given a good enough LLM, and perhaps for power users a configurable set of integrations, you should be able to make any language request, translate it into verbs, and ask for an explanation if you get confusing results. With in-context learning perhaps you can even get to the holy grail of “when I ask for X, please always apply interpretation Y” for personalization. I th…

Makes sense. What is a good LLM though? I think there's a lot of questions hidden in that part of the solution.
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