Re:The Echo Dot was the best-selling product on Amazon this ...
by toyg on Wednesday December 27, 2017 @08:59PM
(#16019738)
> She can’t help me with any of that.
Oh she will, eventually.
Already she can basically do all your shopping. That's a servant job alright. And there are plenty of other things that you would typically ask of "the help", which I bet you can already do:
"send an Amazon gift voucher to my cousin on 25 december."
"call a Uber for 5pm and send it to address X to pick up the kids."
"find plumbers near me with good ratings."
"call my lawyer on Skype."
And there will be things that will likely appear very quickly:
"create a new document with template X and the following text: ..."
"make a mix of songs A, B and C and send it to my girlfriend."
"share photos of holiday X with Dad"
... and so on and so forth. As more and more things are plugged in, it will really feel like you had an invisible servant at your disposal, doing all the dirty work for you, starting with "dealing with computer interfaces" which is what it does right now. Some things are obviously difficult or pointless to automate (like sorting dirty clothes or loading a dishwasher - note how the actual washing is already automated). Some are easier, like sweeping floors with a Roomba.
It's like we were looking at the Apple II, and you were complaining that the desktop cannot write a letter and send it for you. Vocal recognition is an enabler, an interface. If the interface is successful (and it looks like this is the case), programs and "peripherals" will come.
Oh she will, eventually.
Already she can basically do all your shopping. That's a servant job alright. And there are plenty of other things that you would typically ask of "the help", which I bet you can already do:
"send an Amazon gift voucher to my cousin on 25 december."
"call a Uber for 5pm and send it to address X to pick up the kids."
"find plumbers near me with good ratings."
"call my lawyer on Skype."
And there will be things that will likely appear very quickly:
"create a new document with template X and the following text: ..."
"make a mix of songs A, B and C and send it to my girlfriend."
"share photos of holiday X with Dad"
... and so on and so forth. As more and more things are plugged in, it will really feel like you had an invisible servant at your disposal, doing all the dirty work for you, starting with "dealing with computer interfaces" which is what it does right now. Some things are obviously difficult or pointless to automate (like sorting dirty clothes or loading a dishwasher - note how the actual washing is already automated). Some are easier, like sweeping floors with a Roomba.
It's like we were looking at the Apple II, and you were complaining that the desktop cannot write a letter and send it for you. Vocal recognition is an enabler, an interface. If the interface is successful (and it looks like this is the case), programs and "peripherals" will come.