Google Voice Search Gets Smarter, Now Understands Complex Questions And Their Meaning

If voice-based assistants area unit to become the first manner we tend to move with our devices currently and within the future, then Google has simply upped the ante within the battle between its own voice search practicality which of rival mobile assistants like Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana. whereas Google’s app has traditionally done a much better job at understanding its users and responsive queries accurately, the corporate says nowadays that its app has currently gotten higher at really understanding the which means behind users’ queries, as well.

That is, the app has been improved in order that it higher understands language and additional advanced queries.

The company initial unrolled voice search in 2008, and later tied that into its information Graph in 2012, so as to answer users’ queries with factual data regarding persons, places or things. At first, it had been ready togive data on entities like “Barack Obama,” and so later was ready to answer queries like “How recent is Stan Lee?,” Google explains.

Its ability to answer queries improved once more once a minute, because it learned to know words in numerous contexts. as an example, if you asked what ingredients were in an exceedingly screwdriver, Google knew you meant the drink, not the tool.

Now Google says its voice assistant baked into the Google app is ready to know the which means of what you’re asking, therefore you’ll be ready to raise additional advanced queries than within the past. so as to try to to therefore, Google is breaking down your question into its items to raised perceive the linguistics attached each bit, it says.

That means you'll raise Google a matter like “Who was the U.S. President once the Angels won the planet Series?” and it might respond, “George Bush.”


Though anyone might simply perceive such a matter, to urge a machine to try to to constant is additional of a exploit. The system should verify that the “Angels” area unit a team, discern once that team won a specific game (“the World Series”), then check the year of that win against an inventory of presidents for a given country (“U.S.”)

This “complex combination” is simply one in every of Google’s new talents, the corporate says. It may answer additional sophisticated queries a couple of purpose in time (e.g. “What songs did Taylor Swift record in 2014?”), still as those who involve superlatives (e.g. “What area unit the most important cities in Texas?”)

In the former case, meaning you'll raise Google queries that have dates within them and it'll answer higher than it did in the past. And within the latter case, Google currently understands superlatives like “tallest,” “largest,” and ordered things.

If you tried to answer queries like these before, Google would have solely came search results matching the keywords, while not properly distinctive that entities you were very asking regarding, the corporate tells America. In alternative words, this can be the start of Google changing into a real linguistics computer programme – one that understands, as humans naturally and simply do, what an individual very suggests that once they raise a matter.

But Google says it’s still functioning on the technology, that isn't excellent. there'll be some queries it doesn’t quite answer properly for the nonce.

In a diary post particularization the news, Google offers associate example of the sort of mistake it'll still build, expression that if you raise “Who was Dakota Johnson’s ma within the movie?” it might respond with Dakota Johnson’s real-life mother Melanie D. W. Griffith. the solution the user needed, however, was the actor Jennifer Ehle UN agency compete Anastasia’s mother Carla within the “50 reminder Grey” show.

That being same, the flexibility to talk additional naturally and raise sophisticated queries advances Google’s voice search technology quite an bit more than its rivals, UN agency still typically struggle to know easy queries and infrequently simply dump you to a keyword search on the net once they fail.

For Google, ameliorative its voice search isn’t simply a tutorial challenge – it will have a true impact on the company’s bottom line. The additional folks place confidence in Google, the additional they’ll still use its website and services, and therefore the additional they’ll be exposed to ads. That’s vital particularly as users transition associate increasing portion of their internet usage to native apps rather than the browser as mobile phones become our primary computers. additionally, Google’s voice search technology is integrated deeply into its own mobile platform, Android, jointly of the competitive blessings it offers over Apple’s iPhone and iOS software.

The improved voice search is rolling out currently on the company’s flagship Google application for each iOS and mechanical man.