On this year's I/O conference Google talked about the WaveNet voice engine which makes the Assistant's voice more realistic. After the presentation, the company introduced us to the six new Assistant's voices. However, nobody expected them to live today, and yet they are.
The six new voices are available on Pixels that are using Android P, on Galaxy S9 and other models. To check if you are able to try them out, you should open your Assistant's settings, then go to the Preferences and then tap on the Assistant Voice. There are eight voices in total as the first two options are the ones we are already familiar with.
The original voice for Assistant is called "Holly". As 9to5Google notices, these new voices are created with the same technology as the original one. It is called WaveNet. This tool is created by Deep Mind, a Google's subsidiary.
The company acquired Deep Mind, which was at the time British artificial intelligence startup company. It happened back in 2014 when nobody really knew the reason for this particular move. Today, this company is a part of the Alphabet structure and is best known for their flagship product, the WaveNet.
WaveNet uses neural network to create a natural looking and more realistic speech for the Assistant. These new voices still have a little bit of a robotic sound, but the progress made in comparison to the original two is obvious.
Google says that it aims to make the Assistant sound more natural and understand more clearly the person it is speaking to. The company also showed us the presentation where the Assistant makes the appointment with the real people and it sounds stunningly realistic. But this feature is still in the development phase.