At the beginning of January, as usual, the great CES 2019 event took place in Las Vegas, which represents the beginning of hostilities in the battle of the greatest media impact on the consumer. The Consumer Electronics Show is a global stage where companies present their latest gadgets and this year what impressed me the most was the Voice Digital Assistants evolution.
Author Miguel Moreira | Reading time 5 minutes
Last year, 2018, was not a wonderful year for technological companies, as it was severely marked by privacy breach scandals and by a sharp drop in stock market value (especially in the second half after two companies, Apple and Microsoft, reached the mythical barrier of the trillion dollars in value). As such, a reset in the technology area was necessary. Thus, we started 2019 with the best forecasts pointing to the affirmation of 5G communication technology, to greater maturity in the analysis of the potential applications of this huge “fruit salad” called Artificial Intelligence and by greater moderation in the perspective of the fast adoption autonomous vehicles.
After following the news and launches daily, I chose the digital voice assistant as a product of CES 2019. Although they are not new to anyone, I choose it because I believe that we have finally been able to see, with greater clarity, the potential for practical and commercial applications of this technology.
The reality is that the consumer has offered a lot of resistance to digital assistants, not only for cultural reasons (speaking to an object makes us feel strange at the outset), but also due to the difficulty of assistants in understanding languages other than English and, mainly, because the level of general understanding (including English) was, until a few years ago, quite deficient. However, we are finally overcoming this barrier, thanks to the increased ability to understand one of the most spoken languages in the world: “bad English”.
After ensuring the understanding between assistant and user, we discovered an almost magical potential to make life easier for us. Now, we can simply use our voice to know the weather, how the traffic is going, or even start a timer that controls the exact minutes to cook an egg. Talking is a much more natural mechanism for human beings than typing something on a tiny screen and, I assure you, it is a powerful sensation and even difficult to explain.
I have been using Amazon's Echo device and Alexa's assistant for about 6 months. Although I still enjoy a few features, I use this equipment very often and test it repeatedly. As it is rare for us to repeat the same phrase and tone to materialize an order, I always try to make the same order differently and conclude that the ability to understand the multiple language nuances that Alexa has is admirable.
One of the most important developments in this technology was Powered by concept (Alexa or Google) creation. In its genesis, there is the integration of these assistants with the devices of other manufacturers. In this context, in recent months we have seen the launch of several renowned products with the powered by subscription, such as the Sonos One powered by Alexa column or the Smart Clock powered by Google from Lenovo.
At CES 2019, the concept of Smart Home presented by Google stood out. The technological giant created an amusement park within the conference, challenging participants to face the daily situations with the help of their assistant: go shopping, drive in traffic on a rainy day, or even buy bread at a French bakery (revealing another novelty that is a simultaneous translation).
By this, dozens of devices and brands that fit into a home connected and powered by Google were presented. The examples I found most surprising are the ShadeCraft sun hat, Roland pianos, Focals glasses or Kohler toilets. Cars were no exception: the digital assistant application represents a huge potential for convenience and security, which will easily replace the several voice recognition services that some brands have launched in recent years.
Despite the dominance of Alexa (41% share) and Google's Assistant (28%), I can't forget to mention Apple's famous Siri, Microsoft's Cortana or Samsung's Bixby. In addition to the most well-known assistants, there were also small differences such as Snips, designed to work outside the World Wide Web, ensuring greater autonomy and privacy.
And privacy is the "elephant in the room"! Having a device with several highly sensitive microphones, listening carefully and permanently connected to a network is scary. There is a potential for invasion of profound privacy, which seems to go beyond the camera. Cases have even been released in which the assistant sent a recording of a couple's private conversation to a stranger because it misinterpreted a request.
In this context, during the 2018 WebSummit, I attended a debate on privacy. I was surprised by a journalist report who shared the interaction that his 4-year-old daughter had with Alexa since she was born. It was 4 years of conversation between the two that he could remember, conversation by conversation. My skepticism led me to check on my Alexa App if my conversations were also there: and they were (in text and audio)! However, I believe that this challenge is no different from the ones we have already faced in terms of privacy and that society will find a way to regulate these technologies as well.
In conclusion, I believe that digital voice assistants will reach the mainstream by the end of this year and that they will be discovered by those who have more need or less prejudice: the elderly and children. These are no longer devices that merge concepts and technologies that we already know, such as machine learning and sensing. With the evolution towards the incorporation of other technologies, such as virtual reality, we can project to live, within a few years, in a reality of science fiction such as that of “Blade Runner 2049”.
