UPDATE: The new voice is provided by American actress and comedian Issa Rae! To make the switch, Assistant users in the US can say: “Hey Google, talk like Issa.”
The “cameo” voice, which can also be enabled within the Assistant settings, will pop up when you ask certain questions of the Assistant, including the following examples provided by Google.
- “Do I need an umbrella today?”
- “Tell me a secret.”
- “What do you think of me?”
- “Give me a quote from Issa Rae.”
- “Sing a song.”
- “Tell me a joke.”
- Or ask, “Mirror talk” or “How do I look?” for confidence-boosting affirmations.
Original story continues below…
The newest smart home battleground is celebrity voices for personal assistants, apparently.
Earlier this month, Amazon introduced the explicit epithets of Samuel L. Jackson, as an Alexa option, as if to counter the sultry and soulful tones of John Legend, who is available as a Google Assistant voice option in the US.
Now Google is ready to unleash its latest celebrity cameo, with a teaser for the newest arrival appearing ahead of a promised launch on October 10 (tomorrow). The Instagram tease (which has apparently been deleted) was captured by 9to5Google and posted to YouTube.
“You can still call me your Google Assistant, now I just sound extra fly,” the voice opines, before the caption “Google Assistant is getting a new voice” appears on screen. Check out the teaser below.
So who is it? Well, we can pretty much confirm that the voice is feminine, but beyond that we’re not sure. Redditors, as they like to do, have speculated on who Google might have on deck for its latest assistant cameo.
One said Tiffany Haddish, the American actress and comedian, known for her roles in Girl’s Trip, The Secret Life of Pets and Keanu. That appears to be the most popular guess right now. Others speculate it could be Issa Rae, from the HBO show Insecure, or the musician Lizzo.
Related: Google Assistant vs Amazon Alexa
Either way, it could be a while before the new voice arrives in the UK. We’re still waiting for John Legend to give us all of him. Right now it’s possible to change the Google Assistant voice by entering the settings, tapping Assistant and then selecting Assistant voice to see the options.
Google’s options are free, whereas Amazon plans to charge a one-off fee ($0.99) to access the Samuel L. Jackson voice for Alexa, which offers AI-based impressions of his full vocabulary based upon a shorter recording session with the actor.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.