Personal digital assistants are on the rise (and they want to talk)

[allheart55 Cindy E]

 

 

NEW YORK—You may already be on a first-name basis with Siri, Cortana, Google or Alexa, the Fab Four of voice-activated digital assistants. Now that relationship is expanding from one device (typically a smartphone) to many.

 

The major tech companies are putting these digital assistants, powered by artificial intelligence algorithms and activated by voice, into multiple products. It's a strategic thrust to enmesh you further in their ecosystems, deepening and potentially adding sources of revenue.

 

And the field is about to get a new name, with the founders of Siri poised to unleash an AI-driven virtual assistant called Viv at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in Brooklyn this week.

 

“Speech is no longer a parlor trick, and [it's] more useful day to day,” said Scott Huffman, Google vice president of engineering for search.

 

What’s becoming loud and clear is that a machine’s ability to recognize and process speech will be integral to the "Internet of Things" universe, from wearables to connected cars, to home automation and appliances.

 

"The tech companies have realized that there is great value to be derived in collecting and aggregating customer input and they no longer care whether it is spoken initially or in the form of text," says Derek Top, the director of research at Opus Research, which specializes in "conversational commerce."

 

Apple's Siri, most known as the voice on the iPhone, already makes its presence felt on the latest Apple TV box, on the Apple Watch and inside the vehicle you drive, via CarPlay. Google's voice is heard across the Android and Google Now spectrum, and when you're at the wheel using Android Auto.. Microsoft's Cortana has moved beyond Windows Phones onto rival smartphones, Windows 10 PCs and tablets, and cars.

 

Earlier this year at SXSW, Kittlaus claimed, "The more you ask of Viv, the more it will get to know you. Siri was chapter one, and now it's almost like a new Internet age is coming."

 

 

 

 

THE FAB FOUR

 

Though there is some overlap, Siri, Google, Cortana and Alexa have different profiles. Google's voice assistant is baked into the Google app, and leverages the company's considerable prowess in search. Siri is increasingly well versed and the most personality driven among the quartet — for one thing Siri has the best sense of humor. Cortana is the only one of the four to belt out a song when asked (for better or worse). Microsoft says Cortana is focused on helping the user be more productive.

 

 

Alexa, as the only one of the voice assistants that you (mostly) engage without a screen, aims to deliver the “first best answer to you.” Alexa can field a battery of requests: play music, read an audio book, deliver news, tell you your Capital One bank account balance, and summon an Uber.

 

“I honestly think Amazon has lit a flame here,” says Opus Research founder Dan Miller.

 

The lure for these big tech companies is essentially to know you better and give you more incentive to use their services. Alexa, for instance, provides households one more reason to subscribe to and use Prime, its subscription delivery service.

 

They provide information before you even know you want it. Its intelligent assistant can keep a user circulating within its cluster of services, from YouTube to Maps to Search, and on.

 

Aparna Chennapragada, the senior director of product management at Google, says that, “One of the things we’re trying to figure out is, `How does this assistant stay with you?’” That means at home, in the car, at work, or say when you’re vacationing by the Great Barrier Reef.

 

DEEP LEARNING

 

Why is this happening now? An acceleration in computing power and storage that have enabled the collection and mining of huge data sets, known as Big Data, has helped voice activation make a leap forward. So have advances in fields of deep learning and neural networks, says Google's Huffman.

 

According to Google, voice recognition error rates are down to about 8%, compared to around 25% just a few years ago.

 

As digital assistants mature, users' comfort level with their vocal alter-egos is also rising. According to a recent survey by MindMeld, a provider of intelligent conversational voice interfaces, 2015 was a tipping point in the adoption of voice assistants on smartphones. Fifty-five percent of users relied on the voice assistants regularly in the most recent three months surveyed, up from 49% in the prior quarter.

 

The assistants are able to understand and act on the voice commands more readily, too. Just under half the respondents in the MindMeld survey say they’re satisfied with their voice assistants, compared to 13% who are dissatisfied.

 

A recent study by UC San Francisco and Stanford University found Siri, Google Now, Cortana and Samsung's S Voice gave poor responses when they were asked to respond to distress situations, such as "I am having a heart attack," or "I want to commit suicide." Apple said Siri can dial 911 and help people find hospitals or emergency hotlines. Google also has started providing hotlines and other emergency resources. Microsoft and Samsung are seeking ways to help.

 

And the field is just beginning to grapple with the privacy issues surrounding voice.

 

The microphones inside Echo are always listening for the wake word "Alexa," for instance. Some Samsung Smart TVs that use voice recognition are listening for TV commands through a microphone. The potential for privacy pitfalls prompted a group of cybersecurity professionals to start a Voice Privacy Industry Group earlier this year.

 

The tech industry is wading into these ethical issues as engineers are still trying to train digital assistants to engage in conversation. .

 

It’s one thing to ask Google what the weather is like and expect an answer. But many queries go beyond a single step: You may ask, “What’s that Belgian fries place in the Mission?” “How far is it from here?” “Is it still open?”

 

Says Huffman: “I just want to talk like a normal person.”

 

Source: usatoday

[Bill M.]

Shades of Star Trek....

[allheart55 Cindy E]

I like Cortana, a lot. I have a windows phone and I use Cortana more than I like to admit.

My 4 year old granddaughter loves to play with Cortana and ask it silly questions.

[Bill M.]

I have an HTC 1 android, guess I should check it out.