Alexa, Tell me the Future of Voice Technology
When I think about the future of voice technology, the first thing that comes to mind is the movie Her. Joaquin Phoenix plays a lonely divorcee who falls in love with his operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Johansson is essentially a super AI, able to connect on deeper levels than some humans are even capable of. This movie absolutely rips me apart emotionally, but aside from that, the technology aspect has always intrigued me. Phoenix and Johansson are able to have conversations like any normal couple; they have some version of dates with each other, and they even find a way to connect intimately. In reality, I’m not quite sure I like the idea of someone falling in love with a piece of technology, but I do enjoy the virtual assistant aspect.
After reading articles from Forbes, AdWeek, and The Economist, it seems that they all have similar thoughts on the future of voice technology. Over time, more people will begin to adopt it, just as they did other forms of technology. Eventually we will be able to use these devices as actual virtual assistants, not just a device to play music from or play games with. Personally, I like the idea of a device that will read out recipes while I cook, remind me of things on my to do list, and just organize my life in general. I do get a little nervous though about the fact that the device is constantly listening and could potentially be recording, and that seems to be the consensus among the rest of humanity. This brings about a whole plethora of privacy concerns in a world that’s already paranoid about being constantly watched and listened to.
This week was my first time experimenting with voice tech, and I created a simple skill for Alexa. This was fairly easy to do, but it showed me that we still have a long way to go before people start falling in love with them. The speech style still feels pretty robotic, and I can’t foresee myself using this device at its current state for much more than turning on music or telling me the weather. I am, however, excited to see the progression of this technology and to learn more about designing for it.
