Google Assistant Can Now Book Users An Uber, Lyft Ride

Google Assistant can now help users book a car from Uber, Lyft, Ola, Grab, GO-JEK and other ridesharing services.

The feature, which works with Google Assistant-enabled speakers and on phones, allows users to request a car from a specific company or place a general request to receive pricing for all supported local ridesharing services.

Once you decide which company to go with, Google Assistant will then transfer you to that rideshare’s mobile app to complete the booking.

Lilian Rincon, Google’s director for the Assistant, explained to TechCrunch that having a similar feature in Google Maps made implementing the service into Assistant easier for the company.

“We think of the Google Assistant as highlighting the best of Google,” she said. “There is a ridesharing feature in Google Maps, and we’ve been working very closely with that team to highlight this.”

Google has made strides in making Assistant easier for users. In June, it launched Continued Conversation, which allows users to have a natural back-and-forth conversation with the Assistant without having to repeat “Hey Google” with each request.

“For the Google Assistant to have a natural conversation, it should be able to understand when it’s being spoken to and should be capable of responding to several requests during an interaction,” wrote Jaclyn Konzelmann, product manager of Google Assistant. “We’re taking another step forward in making your interactions with the Google Assistant more natural with Continued Conversation.”

And, earlier this year, Google announced additional changes to its artificial intelligence (AI) at Mobile World Congress 2018, including support for 30 new languages. Consumers can now converse with their Google-powered AI in Hindi, Thai, Indonesian, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch. Google Assistant supports 15 languages total.

Additionally, Google Assistant is connected to more than 5,000 devices in the home: cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, switches, vacuums, washers, fans, locks, sensors, heaters, AC units, air purifiers, refrigerators and ovens.