Google’s Assistant gets parental controls. That’s how they work.

in the If these tools land on a smart speaker, screen, or watch near you in the next few weeks, you can narrow down Block kids from making calls, asking for music and videos from certain sources, and interacting with certain Assistant devices. And for those moments when their attention needs to be directed elsewhere, you can set “downtimes” when Assistant isn’t responsive.

These new tools rolled out to devices running Google Assistant last week, including products the company didn’t develop in-house. There’s one notable exception: Google Assistant on smartphones doesn’t receive these updates because the company doesn’t consider them “shared” devices.

Parental controls are just the beginning. In the coming weeks, these devices will also gain features to communicate more effectively with young people, such as B. a new dictionary offer child-friendly definitions when responding to a child’s voice it recognizes and new voices that Speak slower and more expressively.

“The use of technology and especially voice devices in the home makes it possible [children] learn new things, indulge their curiosity, use their creative and inquisitive mind without having to look at a screen,” said Payam Shodjai, senior director of product management at Google Assistant, in an interview.

Change Google privacy settings now

There are a few steps required to get your kids using Google Assistant with these new features.

First you need to create a Google account for them. (Do that use the company’s Family Link app because you’ll need it again later.) Then add your child’s voice to your smart home devices, Google says The assistant can respond appropriately. Finally, in Family Link, go to Controls → Content Restrictions → Google Assistant → Parental Controls to start setting restrictions.

Meanwhile, it’s easier to change the assistant’s voice or access the children’s dictionary – just ask your smart speaker to do it.

Google isn’t the only company trying to make its virtual assistant more accessible to young people. Amazon, the company’s biggest competitor in the smart speaker market, launched its first wave of kid-friendly Alexa skills in the summer of 2017; It’s since sold versions of its budget Echo Dot speakers that resemble cute tigers, penguins, and dragons. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.)

Though a pandemic boom in sales of smart home devices is fading, data from research firm IDC suggests smart speaker shipments will continue to grow through 2026 — if only slightly. That means more opportunities for Google and Amazon to introduce themselves to a younger generation of users, and more questions about the role of voice assistants in homes with children.

In an article published online for the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, researchers wondered if the kind of terse, transactional conversations people typically have using services like Alexa and Google Assistant would interfere with children’s ability to develop certain social graces .

“While normal human interactions typically give a child constructive feedback when they behave inappropriately, this is beyond the scope of a smart device,” said Anmol Arora, co-author of the article, in a press release.

Ask the Helpdesk: Smart speakers can get dumber after learning your voice

From his seat at Google, Shodjai said that in some of these cases, children already understand that they shouldn’t talk to their parents the way they should with a product, for example. Since launch, the company has also added features designed to reinforce good etiquette — in late 2018, it updated Assistant with a new “You’re welcome” mode, where requests containing a “please” or “thank you” receive a would receive a grateful reply.

Since then, Google hasn’t announced any plans to change the way Assistant responds to politeness — or lack thereof — but Shodjai says it’s something they’re “investigating.”

But what about the risk of a child thinking their relationship with a system like Google Assistant is bigger than it is? For some kids — including Shodjai’s own nieces — their first meaningful exposure to technology comes through voice assistants around the home. Could the addition of new, more appealing voices lead to an acceptance of friendship? Or something more family?

Based on the studies he sees, Shodjai seems confident that “kids understand the difference between talking to a digital system and talking to a human.” Still, he concedes that this is a matter that will need to be closely monitored over time, especially considering how much more sophisticated Google wants the Assistant to be act when it grows up.

“As we look to the future, say five, ten, 20 years from now, we envision an assistant that’s even smarter, even more powerful, even more personalized, and more proactive in helping you,” he said.