The “Help me script” feature from Google Home will make coders out of normal people
Telling a machine what to do via its operating system feels great; that’s what running a program/application is, after all. It’s an even greater feeling to get to write your own program because you get to decide how it functions. However, as soon as (more than) most people are introduced to terms like boolean, CSS and ASCII, they run for their lives.
Soon, a new feature from Google Home will be available – namely, the “Help me script” (via Android Authority) that will make coders out of normal people. Long story short, this way Google Home users will be able to program and automate their preferred routines in natural language that the upcoming feature will “translate” into a ready-for-implementation code.
The goal here is to introduce people with no prior coding experience to the wonderful magic world of coding. The best part is, the future middle-aged army of coders will get to see the end result of their programming efforts in practice in their homes. Take that, boring “Hello, world!”
The new “Help Me Script” feature is coming “later this year”, Google promises. It’s to be used with the script editor that Google Home offers for creating complex automation routines. As of now, users note that it’s not very easy to use the script editor and coding skills are indeed a must-have. That’s why Google is introducing AI into the process to simplify it for users who do not have a pseudonym like Neo or Morpheus.
Here’s the drill:
The “Help me script” is powered by a large language model, so it’s constantly learning and improving, generating more accurate and personalized scripts every day, the Google team claims.
The goal here is to introduce people with no prior coding experience to the wonderful magic world of coding. The best part is, the future middle-aged army of coders will get to see the end result of their programming efforts in practice in their homes. Take that, boring “Hello, world!”
Wake up, Neo…
The new “Help Me Script” feature is coming “later this year”, Google promises. It’s to be used with the script editor that Google Home offers for creating complex automation routines. As of now, users note that it’s not very easy to use the script editor and coding skills are indeed a must-have. That’s why Google is introducing AI into the process to simplify it for users who do not have a pseudonym like Neo or Morpheus.
When the feature becomes available, users need to log into their Google Home account on Google Home for web and open the script editor.
Here’s the drill:
You simply describe what you want to happen in natural language – like “If my outdoor camera sees someone after dark, turn on the porch light and make an announcement”, or “When the smoke alarm goes off, flash all the lights in the house and announce an emergency over the speakers”. Then, with the help of generative AI, “Help me script'' will generate the code for you. You can then easily copy, paste and activate that code in the script editor. You can always modify it later if you need to.
Things that are NOT allowed: