[23156] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Google lobotomizes Home Assistant?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lauren Weinstein)
Sat Feb 14 11:22:09 2026
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2026 08:13:07 -0800
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
To: privacy-dist@vortex.com
Message-ID: <20260214161307.GA27518@vortex.com>
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Google lobotomizes Home Assistant?
Home Assistant seems to no longer be able to repeat a response. For years,
after an output that you didn't hear clearly, you could say "repeat" and,
yeah, it would repeat what it just said. Now it just says, "I forgot what I
just said." Very unhelpful.
My theory, and I'm sticking to it until proven otherwise, is that Google
is pushing "reduced capability" in Assistant to try force people over to
Gemini in the Home space -- which it routinely promotes at intervals:
"You can set it up in the Google Home app!"
I'm avoiding this as long as possible, because while Assistant has
been comparatively limited, the way it always sourced most answers "So
and so says ..." has been extremely useful. Gemini hallucinations and
garbage misinformation I don't need. I still find at least half of Gemini
responses in any context to be either totally wrong, partly wrong, or just
wildly inappropriate for the query (because, hey, Google wants Gemini to
say SOMETHING no matter how stupid).
And I still find AI Overviews to be incredibly invasive. If I'm searching
for medical information, I (a) don't need Gemini misinformation that could
make someone even sicker, and (b) I don't need Gemini making guesses about
what I'm searching for and why I might be doing it. It's like having a nosy
neighbor reading your searches over your shoulder and commenting on each one.
It stinks to high heaven.
L
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com (https://www.vortex.com/lauren)
Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
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Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org
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