Home Assistant has a chat function built into the smart home operating system where users can give smart home commands. This should be the first step towards an integrated voice assistant. The function, Assist, supports 22 languages ​​including Dutch.

the new post It’s called Home Assistant Assist and it’s available in OS version 2023.2. developers I write That the assistant can be called up with a special icon in the corner of the system. Assist also works on Android Watches and on Apple watches via Siri.

Assist allows users to have a limited number of tasks that Home Assistant performs in normal language. For example, they can order lights to turn on and off or set them to a specific mode and regulate the temperature for smart thermostats. These tasks are based on what the developers Call intent. This is a general list of commonly used smart home commands that are then translated by the community into other languages. Currently, Assist supports this method 22 languagesincluding Dutch, French, and German.

This intent database is loaded locally. Users can add their own sentences, for example, by changing the word play or by loading their own scripts and scenes with the word play, for example.

Users can choose to use an external language model instead of the local targets. Google Assistant and OpenAI’s GPT-3 are currently supported for this. At Google, the same commands can be given as users can already do when linking their Home Assistant installation. With GPT-3, smart home commands cannot be entered, but users can communicate directly with the language robot from the Home Assistant.

The developers say that Assist is a first step towards its own voice assistant. Home Assistant previously said it wanted to focus more on voice and voice control in 2023. Manufacturers say they want to integrate speech-to-text and text-to-speech into Assist as the next step, but it’s not yet known when that will be ready. The Home Assistant can be controlled via voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant, but that is still done via those companies’ servers. It is also possible to connect alternative external voice assistants, such as the local Almond or Ada.