Google Now was the better phone assistant, no AI or LLMs needed
Google Now was the better phone assistant, no AI or LLMs needed
Several years ago, I could just activate Google Now on Tap and have most of that information automatically filled...
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Meh, i can just use firefox.
For what? This article isn't about browsers, this is about a digital assistant app.
Not OP but I'm the same; I use Firefox to do stuff. All I need is a web browser and do it manually.
On my Android phone I've turned off assistant, and use Nova launcher's search bar to open Firefox and search on DuckDuckGo.
Assistants really aren't that great; you sacrifice privacy for a tool that can launch a search for you when you can just type it in yourself - whats the point? The only time I've ever found an assistant app vaguely useful was when I tried it while driving. But after a couple of days I decided to turn it off again because I didn't want the phone listening all the time just so I could occasionally say "Ok Google, play the news". I found it too poor to manage Google Maps. I might try it again for a longer trip, but day to day, don't get the point.
I'd also feel self concious using it out and about, and lose privacy not just to Google but to every rando I walk past. And then I don't get in the habit of using it in my own home. Add to that the general creepy feeling of devices always listening and it's a hard pass. I suspect I'm not alone in that.
I've seen reports suggesting Amazon is struggling to justify Alexa, because apart from a novelty and basic voice control for playing music it just doesn't make them money and people don't use it that much. They were hoping people would use it go shopping but who wants to shop without seeing something? I'm not going to say "Alexa buy me a TV" and I'm also not going to say "Alexa order me some washing powder". I've honestly never see anyone in real life saying "Ok Google" or "Siri"; the only times I've ever seen them used is chatting in a bar and someone is showing off something silly.
As far I can tell, Voice Assistants are just gimmicks on phones. Cortana was utterly useless on PCs and died a death. About the only useage I can see them being useful for is as fancy switches for smart homes. "Alexa, turn on the lights". That doesn't exactly require high end artificial intelligence. Maybe useful on PCs in the long term if they can actually do sophisticated tasks like analyse a spreadsheet or summarise a paper for you. But day to day now? Pretty pointless to me.
Google now wasn't for searching for stuff or a voice assistant. It was a lot like a calendar manager and reminder system with a bunch of relevant to you right now information on one page. Get to the airport and need your reservation code? Google now has it. Commute to work via train? Google now has the schedule for you. Have an appointment at X address? Google now has the directions. Have a package you're waiting for? Google now has a card keeping track for you.
I didn't want the phone listening all the time just so I could occasionally say "Ok Google, play the news"
Just FYI, your phone isn't truly "listening" to you. There's a separate, low-power chip in most phones these days that has one singular function, which is to listen for the "wake phrase". It doesn't understand anything else besides "Hey Google" or "Hey Siri", or whatever phrase your device uses. This chip has a very small amount of memory, and can only process about 2 seconds' worth of audio, and has no storage or ability to transmit data to any other part of the OS. The actual OS can't hear anything you're saying 99.99% of the time.
When it detects the wake phrase, it triggers waking the phone and activating your mic, where it actually starts to listen to you for the next few seconds to hear your command. But before that, the device can't hear you at all.
Same goes for smart speakers like Nest, Echo, Home Pod, etc. Granted, Echo has had some issues where it was improperly detecting the wake phrase due to some very bad false positives a few years ago, but I believe Amazon has patched that now, as verified reports of Echo devices hearing more than they should are a lot more rare as of late.