New Delhi, Dec. 10 -- We tend to yell at anything around us at the slightest inconvenience, so a home assistant misunderstanding us doesn't stand a chance. And honestly, who hasn't repeated the same command three times only to watch the lights stay stubbornly on? It's the same frustration as talking to someone who's busy scrolling on their phone; you know they heard you, but nothing happens.

Home Assistant's built-in voice assistant, Assist, is powerful, but like any smart device, it needs a little fine-tuning to understand you properly. The relieving part here is that you don't need fancy hardware or a high-end AI setup to get better results. A few practical tweaks can make it feel more like a helpful roommate and less like a confused s...