May 13, 2021

A new update from Google will allow users to teach Google Assistant how to pronounce their names and contact names correctly.

The new update not only makes Google Assistant better at pronouncing tricky names but also allows Google Assistant to understand the context of conversations users share with it.

By integrating Google’s BERT technology, words can now be processed holistically instead of individually, which, according to Google, means: “Assistant can now respond nearly 100 percent accurately to alarms and timer tasks.”

While Google says the new feature will initially be available in English, it “hopes” to make it available in other languages soon.

Once users have received the new update on their phones, they tap the “Record your own” option under the contact box in the Assistance Settings menu to get started.

Google is using BERT technology to further improve the assistant’s context-awareness, making conversations with the assistant feel more natural and useful.

For more information, read the original story in Engadget.