DocAndersen
Beyond talking to your computer or arguing with Alexa, what comes next? Today morn people talk to Alexa than I think even Amazon thought I was going to happen. I know the original intent of their product release was to have a successful product. What happened was a market-changing product that has increased awareness of the concept of voice control. Tell me how many “powered by “insert name of voice system here” products do you use now? What has become a huge market overall, the reality of voice control? The fear in the market today is that hackers can gain control of your remote device and interact with you, or family members without permission.
The telephone used to be the only way into a house. I remember, as a teenager in the dark ages of phones, when we used to run to see who was calling when the phone rang. Or make sure the cord for the phone was long enough that we could go into a room and shut the door. Having conversations, you didn’t want your sisters or parents to well, hear, and ultimately replay for you over and over, meaning you needed a long cord. Even then. You would have either your father or your sister pulling on that cord. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I let the phone ring twice now. The first ring is to see on the caller ID who is calling, and the second ring is because the SPAM filters catch SPAM calls on the second ring.
Sadly, our security company as listed as SPAM (it is no longer) over the weekend. We operate differently now with phones that we did back in the dark ages. Now, if I want privacy, I go for a walk and get away from people for the call. I am no longer bound by a 20-foot cord and the sound of my father’s voice, “who stretched the phone cord?” But, I am curious about what will come next for voice. I know, many cars now have either Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, or allow for Apple’s Carplay. Voice control in a car is somewhat problematic. The road noise can make it hard to add directions. But, in using Apple’s Carplay, I can tell you that it is better than the voice control in many cars native systems.
So to end with my initial question and provide my answer – what is next after voice? I think honestly; it will be greater accuracy for voice entry without environmental impact. As a good friend of mine that just had her first child says, “I need Alexa to hear me even with a crying baby in my arms!”
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Question of
Do you think my friend has a good idea? That Alexa should work perfectly even with a crying baby?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
At some point with voice recognition we need to get past ambient noise, right?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
is it just me, or watching someone yelling at Alexa is funny right?
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Yes
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No
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Even on my mobile phone if my number is unfamiliar I do not open the connection to speak. Just for security.
that is a good plan! i do the same thing!
Q: DO YOU THINK MY FRIEND HAS A GOOD IDEA? THAT ALEXA SHOULD WORK PERFECTLY EVEN WITH A CRYING BABY?
Yes (5 votes) – 63%
No (3 votes) – 38%
Q: AT SOME POINT WITH VOICE RECOGNITION WE NEED TO GET PAST AMBIENT NOISE, RIGHT?
Yes (7 votes) – 88%
No (1 votes) – 13%
Q: IS IT JUST ME, OR WATCHING SOMEONE YELLING AT ALEXA IS FUNNY RIGHT?
Yes (8 votes) – 89%
No (1 votes) – 11%
It is kind of funny seeing a person arguing with Alexa.
The problem with voice is that it’s easier for someone to imitate your voice thus gaining private information especially if you’re using voice in smartphone as a security feature.
you raise an interesting point of debate. In fact, your voice has a specific wavelength that cannot be fully imitated, but the sound of your voice can be imitated easily. You are balancing on the edge of a great discussion here.
the tech in Alexa today can’t distinguish voices other than pitch and timber.
I see…it is wavelength versus sound of the voice. But don’t you think it’s possible to make an app or program that can literally achieve into perfectly imitating a voice?
yes and it wouldn’t be that hard, but then it is just good personal security. Digital recorders reproduce the voice well. But that is a lot of effort to get the information I can probably get you to tell me in a casual conversation.
Exactly, you are right. It is easier to get the information through casual conversation.
social engineering is the easiest and fastest form of hacking!
I liked te share and as there is a real possibility of being hacked I’m wary of too much A.I. in my life. The part about voice recognition for the physically impaired is great… I think. Doc, while I’m here, can you tell me why my Bio text at the bottom of my articles have disappeared as I haven’t deactivated and when I checked, it’s still there on the settings page?
I can understand that pal.
but you are a former police officer, right? you know if someone wants to get you, the front door isn’t normally the way they come in.
“who stretched the phone cord?” – This made me laugh.
my dad was always mad that the curly part of the phone cord was stretched so that it wasn’t curly anymore.
I remember my grandmother getting mad about it and always fixing it.
i bought my dad a 25 foot curly phone cord for Christmas one year.
My cousin is blind. Often when we are talking, Alexa thinks she is talking to her. She will say Alexa, go home! Always reminds me of ET!
sometimes radio shows say Alexa do x, my alexa hears that and does it!
I still have a portable landline phone. Unfortunately, we no longer use it since we have smartphones.
we have a landline, but we still use it on occasion
I really apologize, dear friend … I was a little confused by the translator so I didn’t understand what this was all about … who is this your friend Alex?
Alexa is the name of a speaker system from Amazon. It is a smart speaker that you can talk to, my friend, who just had a baby, can’t use it right now because Alexa can’t hear her over the crying baby!!!
Thanks for your hard work and kind explanation, dear friend … now I get it
my friend was yelling at her Alexa the other day because the baby was crying. I took the baby from her and started to sing. In 30 seconds the baby was quiet, my friend was quiet and Alexa wasn’t listening!
Our lives were better when we only had one big telephone in our homes. Now, we so many smartphones we are mere slaves of technology.
you have mentioned you don’t like tech before! Technology itself doesn’t enslave.
People who design social media sites or Apps do it in order to hook our brains, to create a habit, in other words, to enslave us.
Now you are diving into a very interesting topic.
ever look at a magazine cover?
did you buy the magazine?
ever go to a movie based on a poster?
Or buy something based on a print or media commercial?
Advertising isn’t a social media construct.
This is an awesome topic pal!
I am not sure about the first question, I don’t want Alexa to listen to everything. When we were younger we were often told to speak only when spoken to, I would like Alexa to hear only when commanded. I made a decision never to bring Alexa into our home I do know that I am still watched and tracked.
her complaint is that right now alexa picks up the baby crying and doesn’t hear the command at all!
I understood that, But this is my complaint. Alexa hears too much already.
I marked yes to your second question..
interesting, Alexa does hear a lot currently I agree.
I did not answer the first question… Though in case of emergencies and you need Alexa to dial an emergency number despite the nice is a good idea, a coin has always two sides and I can’t see the other side as of now. Besides, that will require extremely complicated filtering. It could still be a good thought though…
actually it isn’t that hard to filter ambient noise. just that today Alexa doesn’t do that.