Google’s new ‘Pretty Please’ feature encourages users to be more polite

Though it might not be necessary to say ‘thank you’ or ‘please’ to smart assistants, Google is still making sure to teach users some manners and encourage them to use polite words.

Google released a list of new features for its Google Assistant, one of them being ‘Pretty Please’ that aims to ‘reinforce polite behavior’. Other features included better list-taking functionality and more family-oriented games and stories.

The Pretty Please feature encourage users the usage of words like ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ to Google Assistant, which will then reward them with what Google calls ‘delightful responses’. Google Assistant will, in return respond with politeness back.

Google gave an example where if someone says, “Hey Google, please set a times for 5 minutes”, the Assistant will reply, “Thanks for asking so nicely. Alright, 5 minutes. Starting now.”

Along with this, Google also introduced some small changes to Assistant, which include a talkback feature for integration between Google smart displays and Nest Hello video doorbells, allowing yours to speak to guests before letting them in. It also updated Assistant’s note- and list-taking functions, where users can manage multiple lists in one central place, create name lists, and check what’s on the existing lists, reported The Verge.

Also, another feature that is more family-oriented includes inclusion of new read-along and standalone stories from Disney. Also, just in time for Christmas, its new feature also includes to ‘call’ Santa Claus. When one asks Assistant to call him, it will start an interactive game.

More new features includes new way of set alarms, easier way to share photos with simply one voice command, and an update that let users reply to the Assistant’s ‘broadcast’ functionality that allows a two-way communication between a Smart Display/speaker and phone/Home Device despite the location.