Natural Conversations with AI Assistants Based on Speech Pauses

This patent describes a method for enabling more natural conversations with automated assistants. The core problem addressed is the unnatural, turn-based nature of current automated assistant interactions, which doesn’t reflect how humans converse. The patented invention introduces a “soft endpointing” mechanism that allows the assistant to better understand when a user has paused versus completed their utterance, enabling more fluid and natural conversations. The system can provide natural conversational outputs like “Mmhmm” or proactively ask for clarification, rather than immediately fulfilling potentially incomplete requests, thus improving the user experience.