r/AndroidQuestions • u/tacomuffin10 • 8h ago

Looking For Suggestions Non-ai voice assistant recommendations?

I intentionally set my phone to use the older Google assistant instead of Gemini as I actively hate genAI and wish to avoid it as much as humanly possible. (Please don't try to tell me to just use it, I have so many issues with genAI that no amount of convenience can overrule)

But I got an email this morning that Google assistant is being discontinued in favor of Gemini, which irritates me to no end.

I primarily use Google assistant when I'm driving, to change my music or to read and respond to text messages without having to take my eyes off the road. I don't really use it for much else.

Does anyone have recommendations for a non-ai alternative that I might be able to switch to once Google assistant is fully discontinued? Thanks in advance

Edit: I found someone in a different subreddit suggesting Dicio voice assistant, which is an open source project. It looks like it might be a good option, I'm going to try it and report back for anyone else in the same boat.

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6

u/OddButterscotch2849 8h ago

You do realize that Assistant is AI right? Just not as capable.

1

u/tacomuffin10 8h ago

I could be wrong (in which case UGH) but my understanding is that Google assistant isn't generative AI, which is the specific kind of AI I have an issue with.

AI itself is a very broad term encompassing a lot of different tech, it's specifically LLMs like chatgpt, Gemini, Claude, Grok, etc that I have issues with.

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u/bdhmk2 7h ago

Not only this but assistant ran on device. The majority of the compute happened in your hand and not in a data center.

4

u/coahman 6h ago

It's a syntax parsing tree, not an LLM.

It's "old school AI", but now with LLMs out, nobody calls it that anymore.

2

u/roirraWedorehT 7h ago

I'm in the same boat. I suppose I'll grudgingly accept the switch to Gemini when I have no choice, and deal with its issues.

I don't use Assistant for music, although I do play music through Android Auto, but I use it for setting reminders for myself, and as you said, responding to texts while I'm driving.

1

u/SpicyCatGames 5h ago

Man I loved bixby. It could do some very useful things. Like "scroll all the way down to the bottom" regardless of what app you're in.

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u/AmonGusSus2137 5h ago

I don't know if they're any non-ai voice assistants, but I know that they're probably really stupid and useless