Google Assistant’s humor had help from writers for the Onion & Pixar

One of the problems for AI assistants up until now is they feel stiff to converse with when it comes to seeking information. It’s obvious you’re getting information from a machine that lacks its own personality, which is why both Apple and Google have gone to such lengths to make Siri and Google Now entertaining in some form.

Google’s upcoming Assistant AI voice will have something a little special, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. The company has hired comedy and joke writers who worked on Pixar movies and the satire site The Onion in order to breathe life into the artificial intelligence assistant, to make it feel more personable.

It’s a unique effort and the first time we’ve heard of a company hiring writers for their assistants. As more devices like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and other connected devices make their way into our living room with the promise of information at just the sound of a keyword, Google has to find a way to make its Assistant pleasurable to converse with and easy to use.

We’ll find out if that extra boost from paid writers pays off for Google on October 20th when Google’s Pixel phones debut.