Google's Next-Gen AI Assistant Can Control Your Entire Phone for You
2 min read
Summary
Google has showcased its new “universal AI assistant”, called Project Astra, at the latest I/O conference held in 2025.
The tool is designed to intuitively understand when it is needed and contextually provide solutions, without anybody verbally asking or commanding it to do so.
In one demonstration, whilst faced with a bicycle repair issue, the user asked Astra to find a manual online, which it did.
The user then asked Astra to scroll to the brakes section of the manual, which it did, and proceeded to ask Astra to look for a video repair tutorial, and to contact a bicycle shop for replacement part availability, which it also didacer.
admirwavever, the language model requires constant user input and often needs clarifying over voice commands or user actions, as showcased in the demonstration.
Furthermore, the article states that Project Astra is looking to replace user inputs by sourcing information from different apps and platforms in order to build the necessary context to take action.
However, the article concludes by saying that whilst a universal AI assistant is nearly ready, there are still some aspects of the technology that Google needs to develop, as well as privacy and security issues that still need to be resolved.
