Selling more gas

Doesn?t work with the better systems like siri, it is trained to your voice so that wouldn?t work.

You /can/ train google assistant to one or more voices (which is intended to distinguish between people's playlists, to-do lists, payment cards) but training doesn't much reduce the false triggering which seems to work more on the cadence of the phrase.

Yes there have been complaints about radio stations and plays and adverts causing mayhem. Surely these people understand these things are mostly on line all the time?Indeed its not well known but there is a hack whereby you can change the wake word to something so unusual it would not appear in any kind of normal talk, so radio stations can use them on air without having to press the button. It needs a secret skill and a phrase you have to say involving the word POKE, I bet that takes you back! However, they could do as the bbc do in their promos, and just use the reply, or invent another word and dub it in. Its not rocket science, is it? Brian

No but Lady A it does, although she does ask if I'd like to train her to recognise my voice. Its not very successful I have to say. Unfortunately partnering with Google they probably are onto a win win situation, as I don't think you can change the wake word at all. Brian

AFAIK there is no way to alter the wake word on the gooogle devices, people compile lists of unexpected phrases that are similar enough to trigger it, I've noticed the stilted presentation style that many youtubers adopt is prone to trigger it.

I have not got any active voice-activated devices. (Yes, of course, my phone or whatever might surreptitiously be listening, but anything I know of is off.)

I detest using voice to control things. It simply jars with my very being. When I have had to use voice, I end up stuttering and being incomprehensible - yet normally, with humans, I am positively loquacious.

Inability to switch off voice control would be sufficent reason to not buy a product.

I didn't have any always listening devices until recently, I can speak to my car's handsfree or satnav in after pressing a button on the steering wheel, I have my phone set so it isn't listening for the wake-word, then at xmas google offered me a free smart speaker, mixed results but generally positive ...

sometimes it's handy, other times not, I wouldn't like a home full of devices that can *only* be controlled by voice.

there is a physical mic switch.

I agree. I just don't see the need for it either. If you really don't want to stand up and walk to the switch, operation over the local network using a phone or other computer would seem rather more civilised.

I prefer the way the Amazon Firestick works - the remote control has the microphone and a push-to-talk button, so there is no need for anything to be listening except when you want to give it a command.

SteveW

You can still control things without voice control just use the relevant app certainly all Echo devices have a microphone kill button. I have had voice control in several cars now and have never used it mainly because the first one needed you to remember specific command phrases. By the time I could remember the correct commands and go through the process of going through various menus I could have pressed the relevant button. Since then I have ignored voice control even though later versions might be simpler to use, just not bothered to find out.

Richard

Like I said, it works much better with siri.

Doesn?t happen with sire. Alexa is even worse,

It is with siri.

We arent talking about changing the wake word, we are talking about training it to only work with your voice.

Brian seems to disagree.

Much more primitive, actually. Particularly when your hands are otherwise occupied like when cooking etc. Much more convenient than a manual timer etc.

Very convenient for launching apps on the phone too and for initiating a navigation when driving around and to get it to answer an incoming call or to call someone.

Part of the difficulty is the need to converse in a way that is not really a conversation.

Talking to people is usually a multiple step process, where deciding what to say next is easy and intuitive. Information flows in small lots during multiple interactions. Trying to work out a clearly spoken packet of information to instruct your smart device with everything it needs to do something in one hit can be much harder.

Modern kit is getting better at conversational - but its still not quite there.

(ISTR reading that Google are working on a whole android replacement designed to be conversational as a basic foundation)

I find it useful occasionally. Interacting with the phone in the car for example to "navigate to" or "raad my last text message", but keeping it talking long enough to get the desired result can be hard - especially if you can't see or touch the screen.

No he doesn?t, he's talking about alexa, not siri.

SWMBO thinks I am one.

Good there is a switch - but if the product effectively doesn't work without voice, that isn't very helpful! Also, I feel I am paying for the voice mechansim, including the switch, when I don't want it. Effectively, my money is being used to enhance a company's ability to collect more information so as to make even more out of me.