Issa Rae is on a roll and continues to secure the bag. She will now add Google Assistant to her resume.
What We Know:
- Google announced Issa Rae as the new cameo voice of Google Assistant. Issa is the second celeb cameo, after John Legend whose voice rolled out earlier this year.
- Issa’s voice is available in English for a limited time in the U.S. for free. To switch to Issa’s voice, users simply say “Hey Google, talk like Issa” or select it in the Assistant voice settings section.
- The new feature is available on any device with Google Assistant, including Google Home speakers, Smart Displays and on mobile for both Android and iOS. With the help of speech synthesis model WaveNet, you get to ask Issa just about anything you want.
- Issa said it required more than 40 hours of her saying “random sentences” in the recording booth to get the Google Assistant trained to replicate her speech. “One of the most fun days was just being myself – I give people compliments,” she said. She can even provide a motivational message of encouragement, such as when you ask “How do I look?” According to Issa, she sees herself as “a big pumper-upper”.
Issa Rae is on fire, she made her film debut in the drama The Hate U Give and most recently starred in the comedy Little. She has plans to launch a woman led tech startup and will be starring in two new romantic comedies next year, The Photograph and Lovebirds.
