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Google Assistant adding Continued Conversation, Multiple Actions, & Pretty Please

At I/O 2018, Google is announcing a slew of new Assistant features. In addition to custom voices, Continued Conversation, Multiple Actions, and updated family features are rolling out in the coming weeks and months.

Assistant now understands the “social dynamic of conversation” with Continued Conversation. This means that users don’t have to repeat “Hey Google” every time and allows for more natural back-and-forth conversations.

The Assistant will be able to understand when you’re talking to it versus someone else, and will respond accordingly. This feature has been one of our top requests and you’ll be able to turn on Continued Conversation in the coming weeks.

Multiple Actions allows users to includes multiple requests or questions when talking to Assistant. Google noted that this was a hard problem to solve and involves a technique called coordination reduction. Rolling out now, users can control multiple smart home devices, ask the weather in multiple cities, and other more complex queries.

On the family front, Google is tacking how kids may grow to become rude in life through their repeated usage of smart assistants where the primary interaction is just shouting off a series of commands and expecting answers. A new extension of Family Link called “Pretty Please” allows Assistant to understand and encourage polite conversation.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com