Google Assistant is going to have a relatively better sense of humor compared with Siri and Alexa — assuming that Pixar and The Onion writers can come up with better jokes than Apple and Amazon's AI-powered voice assistants, that is.
Regardless of whether or not Google Home's AI will be funnier than the rest among the current brood, this development is a clear sign that the Mountain View company wants it to roll out as a friendly and lively companion that's easy for users to make a connection with — emotionally, not digitally with wireless devices or physically via a USB cable.
The news comes from none other than Christopher Mims of The Wall Street Journal, and according to him, the comedy writers of Pixar and The Onion are already hard at work in making Google Assistant the perfect chum that everyone will love to talk to daily.
On an interesting note, he also points out that there's still no "true" AI on the block, saying that no system really has the capability of understanding conversations just yet. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that people can't make an emotional connection with them.
That said, a few jokes from time to time and a couple of zingers here and there will help a lot down the road in turning Google Assistant into a vibrant, everyday buddy.
Introduced back at I/O 2016, Google Home is one of the first products to have Google Assistant behind the scenes, and it's expected to start hitting shelves on Nov. 4.
It's also worth mentioning that Google's smartphones Pixel and Pixel XL are also going to feature the voice service, and they are set to begin rolling out on Oct. 20. Preorders are already up at Verizon, and consumers stand to save up to $300 with the Big Red's trade-in promo and get a free Daydream View VR headset to boot.
To boil things down, it seems that the Mountain View company is aiming at dominating the voice AI scene with Google Assistant by giving it more life with humor. If this turns out to be a huge factor in determining the best in the competition, then Siri and Alexa better step up their game because they don't exactly tell funny jokes — most of the time, at least.
What do you think of Google's plans? Hit us up in the comments section below and let us know.
