Google Pixel and the Virtual Assistant

Years ago I wrote of the future of automotive technology and fantasized of a virtual personal assistant. We got one step closer today with Google’s demonstration of their new Pixlel phone and Google Assistant. Sure, things like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and even Google’s own “Google Now” have been around for some time. But, with Google Assistant the company is aiming to expand the vocal search into the world of artificial intelligence. Your new assistant will understand context and in some ways learn what you are referring to for a more natural conversation. As this continues to improve it will change the way we keep track of the growing list of information that is being thrown at us every day. When behind the wheel on the way to work Google’s Assistant can give an audible list of your schedule for the day and you can have your “assistant” set reminders for important tasks. I know my whole life is basically an open book to Google at this point and the assistant would use this information to learn how to best help while navigating through my day. While many will criticize Google for a lack of substantial updates today, the importance of AI in a vocal search platform cannot be ignored. Up to this point we have been striving to make our mobile devices friendly for the user to interact with. Going forward I think the focus will shift to a design where it gets easier and easier for the devices to reach out and learn to interact with the user instead.