AI likely to make voice assistants smarter
Google is making changes to the team behind Google Assistant. That’s the search giant’s voice-enabled virtual helper, like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa.
Basically, Google is bringing in artificial intelligence specialists to “supercharge” Assistant with the same tech that underlies ChatGPT. It’s also laying off staff members at the same time.
Assistant, Alexa and Siri still aren’t all that great at understanding exactly what humans say, but that may change with this AI wave.
There’s a new AI assistant on the block called Pi. I reluctantly gave it access to my iPhone mic to test it out, and I asked it, “Hey Pi, would you ever hang out with Siri?”
Hahaha that’s a funny question. The thing is, since we’re computer programs we can’t really hang out in the physical sense of the word. But I’m sure we can chat with each other from our respective platforms, and perhaps learn from each other. Even with that laugh, Pi is pretty impressive. And it’s not the only AI tool that wants to chat you up.
Aravind Srinivas founded Perplexity AI, a search engine he hopes will be able to talk back to users soon.
“That’s the experience we want to bring to search, like where you can just literally ask the computer questions that you would ask a human,” Srinivas said.
Startups like Perplexity AI may be at a disadvantage to the Googles and Amazons of the world, which helped create the phones and smart speakers that are already in our pockets and living rooms.
Bret Greenstein at consulting firm PwC said he can see a day soon where even hotel rooms have voice-enabled AI assistants.
More capabilities, though, will bring more privacy concerns, he said. “I don’t really ask for anything very personal in a current assistant. But that will increasingly be true when it could be more helpful to me.”
So, how does Siri feel about this? To get an answer, I figured I’d ask. “Hey, Siri. What do you think of Pi, the AI assistant?”
Hmm, I don’t have an answer for that. Is there something else I can help with?You know what, Siri? There’s something about you I actually prefer. Siri knows many things, though I wonder if she knows what’s coming.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
