Google Assistant At Google I/O 2016: What Can AI Software Really Do? Google Home, Allo And Duo Showcase Contextual Computing

Google I/O 2016
Google I/O 2016 Screencap: Google

Google is delving deeper into artificial intelligence. At the Google I/O Keynote on Wednesday, the company announced Google Assistant, its latest project dealing with AI.Google Assistant will work on new products and software also announced at and Google I/O, including Google Home, Allo and Duo.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai detailed how the tech giant is currently using AI to power its voice and image recognition features in Google Search and Google Photos. He claims 20 percent of searches are voice queries, while there are 200 million monthly active users on Google Photos.

Google Assistant

Google Assistant, meanwhile, will turn searches into a contextual conversation between a device and a user. Users can ask advice questions with the standard “Okay Google” format and then ask follow-up questions in a more conversational style. Pichai gave as an example, asking Google “Who directed The Revenant?” When Google pulled up the answer Alejandro González Iñárritu, Pichai said asked “ Show me his awards,” and Google pulled up a list of Iñárritu’s awards without needing his name repeated. “This has historically been hard for computers to do,” Pichai said.

Google Assistant works with phones, tablets, cars and computers, and will be implemented into the Google Home device, which was also showcased during the keynote. Google Home is Google’s take on devices like Amazon Echo, which acts as music and entertainment system, a task manager and a search engine.

The device is small and color customizable. The base is a Wi-Fi speaker; however, it simply looks like a random living room decoration. Google Home works with Chromecast to project media onto a TV. Users can control music playback and Chromecast video playback through Google Home with voice commands. The Assistant functionality allows users to set alarms, compile shopping lists and control lighting and thermostats in a home. In the future, Google hopes to implement onto Google Home functionalities including booking a car, ordering dinner, sending flowers to mom.

Google Home is set to launch in the fall. Those interested in more information can sign up at Google.com/home .

Allo

Google Assistant will also be featured on Google’s new smart messaging app, Allo. The AI feature helps users complete conversations and decrease response time with “proactive suggestions” they can select instead of typing responses. Users will get suggestions for how to respond to text or images. Users can also execute functions that typically require opening other apps directly in Allo. For example, if a user is making dinner plans, the Google Assistant feature in Allo can display a restaurant search results based on the conversation and and book a reservation through Opentable without having to leave the Allo app.

Allo supports single chats and group chats; it can play videos within the chat as well as games. Users can also pull up a personal chat via Google.

In addition to Google Assisant features, Allo will include security features such as Incognito mode, which supports end-to-end encryption and expiration dates for conversations. Once a chat conversation is deleted, it cannot be retrieved.

Other basic functionalities for Allo include smart reply, which proactively suggests appropriate response options. For example, if a user receives an image of a cute dog, response suggestions could include “Awww!” “What a cute dog!” or even a response in reference to the dog’s breed. Users can also easily increase or decrease the size of text and emojis to evoke emotion, which Google calls “whisper and shout.”

Duo

Duo is the video calling version of Allo, which includes many of the same Google Assistant features. A standout feature on Duo is its knock-knock preview, which allows users to see a live image of who’s calling before answering a call. The preview seamlessly transition into a live call once the call is answered.

Allo and Duo will be available during the summer on Android And iOS. Those interested in more information can sign up here for Allo and here for Duo.

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