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Api.ai CEO Ilya Gelfenbeyn Talks About Conversational Voice Interfaces (Video)
Api.ai makes an Android voice-controlled utility called Assistant. I have it on my Android phone. It is one of many simiar apps, and I have been trying them a little at a time. Are any of them as good as Siri? Let's just say, "Quality varies."
And Android voice assistants aren't the point of this interview, anyway. It's more about the process of developing interactive, voice-based IO systems. This whole voice/response thing is an area that's going to take off any year now -- and has been in that state for several decades -- but may finally be going somewhere, spurred by intense competition between the many companies working in this field, including Ilya's.
And Android voice assistants aren't the point of this interview, anyway. It's more about the process of developing interactive, voice-based IO systems. This whole voice/response thing is an area that's going to take off any year now -- and has been in that state for several decades -- but may finally be going somewhere, spurred by intense competition between the many companies working in this field, including Ilya's.
Maybe they'll add a transcript, but there isn't one now.
News at 11, losers.
Remind me why I need one again?
Pro-tip, hipsters: people don't need to make stuff more skeumorphic (or whatever the non-visual equivalent is), because computers are part of the real world now. In particular, just because it was routine to ask humans for stuff in natural language, it doesn't mean it's the most efficient way of getting stuff from computers.
This is why VR has been just round the corner since the '80s, and strong AI since forever. They're solutions looking for problems.
(Well, OK, strong AI is a problem looking for a problem - since a silicon-based strong AI has the natural rights of a human.)
...they understand context. Understanding the words is nowhere near enough.
A secretary understand context. I may dictate a novel, and the secretary types. If I get a phonecall on the landline, the secretary will understand not to type the phone conversation into the middle of the novel. I can also give orders to change the main characters name to 'Pete'. And have it done, no risk of the command being typed into the text instead. But currently, no voice system understand context.
An interesting test of voice systems is to write the user's manual using the voice system itself. This will have problem sentences like "To turn off your voice system, say 'voice system: deactivate' ". Obviously, you don't want the system to obey such commands while writing. Again - this is not a problem with a context-aware human secretary, but something AI systems really struggle with.
Why is he being interviewed in a nursery? The background is a distraction as I keep wondering what circumstances led to his being interviewed in a nursery. Also, who is doing the interviewing? One of the biggest problems I have making it more than ten-seconds into these interviews is the person doing the interview. Terrible voice for interviewing. Poor sentence structure and all around word usage. Oh yeah, "Uh" and "Um" are not words. Some time back someone else was conducting an interview and they did a passable job.
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... Will such a voice interface be able to understand or pronounce "Api.ai CEO Ilya Gelfenbeyn"
didn't go so well. Siri is terrible, and api.ai is even worse. Also, we spent about two man years on the setup. Our customers hate it and don't use it, but it demos well so sales loves it. We are gaining customers, and thus income, from having it, so it's still a net positive. It's just a short term sales gain rather than a long term gain.
There are a couple of things on your site you might want to change to make it more... better.
"I'm in a mood for a comedy."
Should read:
"I'm in the mood for a comedy"
"Show route to the Battery Park."
Should read:
"Show the route to Battery Park."
"Hey Robot, can you clean in the living room now?"
Should read:
"Hey Robot, clean the living room."
After all if it says no we have a big problem ; P
You should also re-write the "requests processed" counter to at least look variable.
I'm not picking on you. Constructive criticism is important and so are little details.
Editors: fix summary link to his companies website. It's not like we all can't figure it out, but it is still unprofessional.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
Let's just say, "Quality varies."
Or, instead, you can something which actually means something. Does it vary from good to excellent? Or from terrible to abysmal?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
It is not as good as Siri; it is just as bad. Anything outside a direct, simple question, and she gets her knickers in a twist. No common sense whatsoever, apparently not much in the way of memory of the conversation, and prone to come up with nonsense when it gets lost - which happens very quickly. Yep, just as pathetic as Siri. Another gimmick good for parties and for grins and giggles, but little else.
Seriously rob, you suck balls at interviews. Please get someone that isn't you to do this stuff because your work is crap.
My home has a direct view on their building and its colorful signs. It's nice to know what they do ;)
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If other people can't understand what you say, what chance does a computer have?
Worse than a person, not better.
And probably slower than typing.