The Google Assistant offers a few customization options when it comes to its voice, especially for users in the United States, where it"s even possible to have John Legend voicing the Assistant. For those outside the U.S., Google today announced new Assistant voices for nine different languages around the world.
The new voices are available in German, French, Dutch, Norwegian, Italian, Korean, Japanese, English (UK) and English (India). They were produced using the WaveNet speech synthesis technology from Google"s DeepMind division. The speech model should ensure that voices sound natural, both in terms of pitch and pacing.
To choose your preferred voice, you can head into the settings on the Assistant app on your phone, which are labeled by colors rather than genders. Google says it"s also encouraging people to learn about the different voices, and so, when users first set up the Assistant, they"ll be randomly assigned either the Red or Orange voice by default. This is only happening in the countries that are getting new voices.
The new voices are rolling out this week, so you may want to check your settings if you"re interested in choosing a different voice for your Assistant.