From CNET: Google Assistant lives in your home and might have its own button on your phone. Now it's in your Android Messages texting app, too. I got a hands-on demo of how exactly it works, here at MWC 2019 in Barcelona.
Each year at the world's biggest phone show, Google transforms a concrete passageway between two convention center halls into a colorful outdoor "booth" that draws conference-goers with the promise of comfortable seating and treats. This year, that included a juice bar set up to show a transcription feature for people with hearing impairments, and a coffee shop that showed off Google Pay and this new Assistant in Android Messages demo.
The idea is that you "pay" for the coffee and while you wait, you get the Assistant demo. It's a bit contrived, but the "coffee shop" was adorable in the most Googley way. And the demo itself? Pretty cool, actually.
Assistant for Android Messages is the latest example of Google's embrace of AI to understand context and anticipate what you want. AI may not be as sexy as foldable phones or 5G, but it's quietly making its way onto nearly every high-end phone through the camera app and through tools like this. For Google, a robust AI engine is one more weapon in its arsenal against Amazon's Alexa assistant, Google Assistant's most significant rival for an AI ecosystem whose real prize is your smart home.
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