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> Conversational assistants? I don't know. They don't seem to have really panned out for the most part and I'm not sure they're much changed from at least five

> Conversational assistants? I don't know. They don't seem to have really panned out for the most part and I'm not sure they're much changed from at least five years ago in spite of vast armies of expensive developers being paid to work on them. A small company working on the same problem with passionate skilled devs would do better imo, albeit lacking the brand recognition of Google or apple. I feel like Google _could_ do much better in this space if they really wanted to; but do they want to

ghaff 4y ago
"Passionate skilled developers"? Please. Voice recognition is actually quite good. The problem is that the assistants aren't "smart" enough to actually do much that's useful with that voice recognition. And I suspect that, for a lot of things, voice alone just isn't that great either for input or output. It's essentially another AI problem where surprisingly good isn't necessarily all that useful.
- erosenbe0 4y ago
  Voice recognition is great. Doctors can dictate notes while on the potty or getting a glass of water or walking the hallway between patients. Let's also not forget the benefits for disabled or elderly.
- darepublic 4y ago
  The speech recognition itself is pretty amazing right now but the command system, with one statement one action and capability via third party integrations puts some constraints on usefulness I feel. I have seen at least one example of Google neutering the capability of its assistant in order to pursue other ends. Which was playing albums on YouTube via voice which they now hide behind YouTube prime.
- chaostheory 4y ago
  > The problem is that the assistants aren't "smart" enough to actually do much that's useful with that voice recognition. You'd be right if you were only discussing Alexa, Siri, or some lesser known assistants like Kortana; but Google's assistant is pretty decent at understanding your requests.

ghaff 4y ago

"Passionate skilled developers"? Please. Voice recognition is actually quite good. The problem is that the assistants aren't "smart" enough to actually do much that's useful with that voice recognition. And I suspect that, for a lot of things, voice alone just isn't that great either for input or output. It's essentially another AI problem where surprisingly good isn't necessarily all that useful.

erosenbe0 4y ago
Voice recognition is great. Doctors can dictate notes while on the potty or getting a glass of water or walking the hallway between patients. Let's also not forget the benefits for disabled or elderly.
darepublic 4y ago
The speech recognition itself is pretty amazing right now but the command system, with one statement one action and capability via third party integrations puts some constraints on usefulness I feel. I have seen at least one example of Google neutering the capability of its assistant in order to pursue other ends. Which was playing albums on YouTube via voice which they now hide behind YouTube prime.
chaostheory 4y ago
> The problem is that the assistants aren't "smart" enough to actually do much that's useful with that voice recognition. You'd be right if you were only discussing Alexa, Siri, or some lesser known assistants like Kortana; but Google's assistant is pretty decent at understanding your requests.