Google Assistant is going to get a lot more conversational with LaMDA

Google Io 2021 Keynote Lamda
Google Io 2021 Keynote Lamda (Image credit: Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Google Assistant will now have LaMDA.
  • LaMDA will allow you to have more nuanced conversations and ask more questions.
  • Conversations will be free-flowing.

Google Assistant is going to get a lot more conversational with Google's breakthrough development called "LaMDA."

During Google I/O, the company announced how, LaMDA, which follows BERT, will help users have more natural conversations with the assistant.

"We've invented machine learning techniques that help us better grasp the intent of Search queries," Google said in a blog post.

"LaMDA — short for "Language Model for Dialogue Applications" — can engage in a free-flowing way about a seemingly endless number of topics, an ability we think could unlock more natural ways of interacting with technology and entirely new categories of helpful applications.

Google says LaMDA has been trained on dialogue and that during its training, "it picked up on several of the nuances that distinguish open-ended conversation from other forms of language."

Google Io 2021 Keynote Pluto

Source: Android Central (Image credit: Source: Android Central)

During the company's presentation, LaMDA was showcased acting like Pluto and a Paper Airplane. Both conversations showcased the AI bot having a strong understanding of both topics when asked questions. For example, Pluto was asked, "Tell me what I would see if I visited," to which Pluto responded, "You would get to see a massive canyon, some frozen icebergs, geysers, and some craters."

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Shruti Shekar
Editor in Chief

Shruti Shekar is Android Central's managing editor. She was born in India, brought up in Singapore, but now lives in Toronto and couldn't be happier. She started her journalism career as a political reporter in Ottawa, Canada's capital, and then made her foray into tech journalism at MobileSyrup and most recently at Yahoo Finance Canada. When work isn't on her mind, she loves working out, reading thrillers, watching the Raptors, and planning what she's going to eat the next day.