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Google Home adding generative AI-powered ‘help me script’ to web editor

Back in June, the Google Home Script Editor launched to let users build more advanced automations, and it’s soon getting a “help me script” feature powered by generative AI.

“Help me script” will let anyone without coding experience use the script editor. It appears as a pencil with a sparkle icon in the top-right corner. The chatbot UI lets you “Enter a prompt,” like:

  • “When the TV turns on after sunset, dim the living room lights and close the blinds”
  • “If my outdoor camera sees someone after dark, turn on the porch light and make an announcement”
  • “When the smoke alarm goes off, flash all the lights in the house and announce an emergency over the speakers”

It will take a second to generate the code with the ability to thumbs up/down and regenerate. You have to manually copy and paste into the Script Editor with the usual validation check running. Google considers it an “experimental feature,” and users are warned to “not rely on Help me script for safety-or-security-critical use cases.”

Overall, this is a very smart use of generative AI that lets users interact with the Script Editor in a natural, conversational manner. It can also help you get started with coding. One has to think that Google will one day add this feature directly to the Home app, if not Assistant, and that this test will help refine the capability. 

Today, Google only says that the Help me script feature is powered by an LLM (large language model) but does not specify which one. It’s said to be “constantly learning and improving, generating more accurate and personalized scripts every day.”

Help me script will be available “later this year” in the Google Home web app as part of the Public Preview program.

More on Google Home:

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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

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