What exactly is the Google assistant?

Google unveiled a ton of cool new products and features today at Google I/O, many of them powered by some seriously impressive artificial intelligence going by the name of Google Assistant. Or is it a Google assistant? Which kinda just seems like Google Now? And while we're asking questions … Hold on. Let's take a step back and go over what exactly the Google assistant is, what it does and how it's going to change the way you use Google.