Google Assistant Becomes More Conversational

Google has made talking to Google Assistant easier with the launch of Continued Conversation.

“For the Google Assistant to have a natural conversation, it should be able to understand when it’s being spoken to and should be capable of responding to several requests during an interaction,” wrote Jaclyn Konzelmann, Product Manager of Google Assistant. “We’re taking another step forward in making your interactions with the Google Assistant more natural with Continued Conversation.”

The feature became available on Thursday (June 21) on Google Home, Google Home Mini and Google Home Max. The new feature can be turned on in the Google Assistant “app by going to Settings → Preferences → Continued Conversation and hitting the toggle.”

Continue Conversation’s features were first announced at I/O, including the ability to have a natural back-and-forth conversation with the Assistant without having to repeat “Hey Google” with each request. Instead, after asking the Assistant a question, users can ask a follow-up question, set a reminder or add to a shopping list without needing to say “Hey Google” each time. Users can say “thank you” or “stop” once they’re done, or Assistant will end the conversation once it detects the user is no longer talking to it.

Users will still need to activate Assistant devices with “OK Google,” “Hey Google,” or with a physical trigger. However, with the new optional setting turned on, the “Assistant will stay active for long enough to respond to follow up questions so you don’t have to say ‘Hey Google’ as often.”

Earlier this year, Google announced additional changes to its AI at Mobile World Congress 2018, including support for 30 new languages. Consumers so motivated can now converse with their Google-powered AI in Hindi, Thai, Indonesian, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch. Google Assistant now supports 15 languages total.

Last month, the company revealed that Google Assistant is now connected to more than 5,000 devices in the home: cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, switches, vacuums, washers, fans, locks, sensors, heaters, AC units, air purifiers, refrigerators and ovens.