Google Assistant is hungry for your data, unleashed on LG, Huawei and Moto G5

Google, in a challenge to Amazon’s Alexa and Windows’ Cortana, is now putting the Assistant on as many destinations as possible to win the Digital Assistant war.

Google wants to read into as much of your data as possible (REUTERS File Photo)

Ever wondered why Google was so generous in giving unlimited photos and video storage space with the Google Pixel? Wonder why is it now doing the same with the latest of LG, Motorola and Huawei flagships?

Because Google wants to read into as much of your data as possible as it is harnessing its Assistant with the power to read images. So the more the data fed to the Google Assistant, the smarter it becomes. Soon, Google Assistant will be able to do much more than just work with the Google Search Engine or translate stuff for you.

According to Ian Fogg, head of mobile analysis at IHS, "Google's effort is a natural step for Google to offer Google Assistant to as many smartphones as possible because the more people that use Assistant, the smarter it will become. Machine learning-based AI benefits from enormous amounts of data for training."

"Artificial intelligence or AI is at the heart of Google's strategy. Google is shifting quickly to an 'AI First' strategy across all of its products. The smartphone is the ideal training device for AI because it is highly personal and has a rich range of sensors. This launch will not only make Google smartphones smarter, it will make all of Google's services smarter. This is a strategic move for Google."

Amazon is also training Alexa as it tries to put its Assistant in more households. Amazon claims that it wants Alexa to learn more about consumer behaviour to make more accurate suggestions when asked.

However, Fogg feels that the AI experience on smartphones need to improve. "Smartphone makers need to include higher quality, and likely additional, microphones to maximize the performance of voice recognition with AI agents, like Google Assistant."

"Soon there will be tens of millions more users of Google Assistant because of the enormous numbers of smartphones in use. The just announced LG G6 smartphone has Google Assistant AI built in and LG had hoped it would be a differentiator which would help LG to counter Samsung and Apple," Fogg added.