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Google patents smarter voice assistant prompts for unclear commands

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Google describes a system that detects when a spoken command is ambiguous and chooses how to ask for clarification. Instead of always using text or voice, it may show visual options on the screen to help the user pick the right action. The choice depends on past data showing whether simple text prompts usually fail.

Why it mattersThis could make voice assistants less frustrating by offering visual choices when they are unsure what you meant, rather than just asking again in words.

In the filing’s own words

Implementations described herein receive audio data that captures a spoken utterance, generate, based on processing the audio data, a recognition that corresponds to the spoken utterance, and determine, based on processing the recognition, that the spoken utterance is ambiguous (i.e., is interpretable as requesting performance of a first particular action exclusively and is also interpretable a second particular action exclusively). In response to determining that the spoken utterance is ambiguous, implementations determine to provide an enhanced clarification prompt that renders output that is in addition to natural language. The enhanced clarification prompt solicits further user interface input for disambiguating between the first particular action and the second particular action. Determining to provide the enhanced clarification prompt includes a current or prior determination to provide the enhanced clarification prompt instead of a natural language (NL) only clarification prompt that is restricted to rendering natural language.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method implemented by one or more processors, the method comprising: processing audio data that is detected via one or more microphones of an automated assistant device and that captures a user utterance; identifying, based on the processing of the audio data, one or more words corresponding to the user utterance; determining, based on processing the words corresponding to the user utterance, that the words correspond both with initiation of a first particular action exclusively and with initiation of a second particular action exclusively; in response to determining that the words correspond both with initiation of the first particular action exclusively and with the second particular action exclusively: determining whether, in soliciting further user input for disambiguating between the first particular action and the second particular action, to provide a natural language (NL) only clarification prompt that is restricted to rendering NL, or to instead provide an enhanced clarification prompt that renders NL and renders output that is in addition to NL, wherein determining whether to provide the NL only clarification prompt or to instead provide the enhanced clarification prompt is based on a failure metric associated with the NL only clarification prompt, wherein the failure metric is determined based on an analysis of historical automated assistant interaction data, and wherein determining whether to provide the NL only clarification prompt or to instead provide the enhanced clarification prompt comprises: determining to provide the NL only clarification prompt when the failure metric fails to satisfy a threshold, and determining to provide the enhanced clarification prompt when the failure metric satisfies the threshold; and causing the determined one of the NL only clarification prompt or the enhanced clarification prompt to be rendered at the automated assistant device.

Facts

Company
Google (GOOGLE LLC)
Official title
SELECTIVELY PROVIDING ENHANCED CLARIFICATION PROMPTS IN AUTOMATED ASSISTANT INTERACTIONS
Publication number
US20260301740A1
Application number
19694243
Filed
Jun 1, 2026
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
18

Classified under

G10L 15/22 Physics & computingG06F 3/0481 Physics & computingG06F 3/0488 Physics & computingG06F 3/165 Physics & computingG10L 15/1815 Physics & computingG10L 15/30 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.