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Alibaba Already Has a Voice Assistant Way Better Than Google's (technologyreview.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

Like Google's Duplex, Chinese internet giant Alibaba has its own humanlike voice assistant capable of making restaurant reservations and salon appointments. But unlike Google, which has rolled out the feature to select audience, Alibaba's offering already has a wider reach. And it's smart, too. From a report: On December 2 at the 2018 Neural Information Processing Systems conference, one of the largest annual gatherings for AI research, Alibaba demoed the AI customer service agent for its logistics company Cainiao. Jin Rong, the dean of Alibaba's Machine Intelligence and Technology Lab, said the agent is already servicing millions of customer requests a day. The pre-recorded demo call involved the agent asking a customer where he wanted his package delivered. In the back-and-forth exchange, the agent successfully navigated several conversational elements that demonstrated the breadth of its natural-language capabilities.

Take this exchange at the beginning of the call, translated from Mandarin: Agent: Hello, I am Cainiao's voice assistant. I am --
Customer: Hello.
A: Yes, hi, you have package scheduled for morning delivery to 588 Culture West Road. Is it convenient for you to receive?
C: Who are you?
A: I am Cainiao's voice assistant. I'd like to confirm your morning delivery to 588 Culture West Road. Does that work for you?
C: I'm not home in the morning.
A: Then do you have another address that you'd like to use?

Within 30 seconds, the agent has smoothly handled three common, and tricky, conversational ingredients: interruption, nonlinear conversation, and implicit intent. Interruption is self-explanatory: the agent can respond to the customer's interruption and continue relaying relevant information without starting over or skipping a beat.

109 comments

  1. I somehow feel good about this... by bogaboga · · Score: 2, Insightful

    From the summary:

    But unlike Google, which has rolled out the feature to select audience, Alibaba's offering already has a wider reach. And it's smart, too.

    When one consider's Google's latest [crazy] shenanigans with respect to Android's messaging, I feel good to a degree, that companies outside the USA, are showing Google what is possible.

    Further, Americans will soon come to realize that there's innovation from outside the continental USA; and that we may not be all that important when compared to some technological spots in the world.

    With these things happening, Google may perhaps wake up before it's too late.

    1. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, what shenanigans?

    2. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by GuB-42 · · Score: 0

      They discontinued Allo, one of their many messaging app. The fact that there are many is the problem, they can't seem to get it right.

    3. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      News flash, we Americans already know that innovation comes from outside the US as well. However China has a reputation for stealing tech and claiming its their own. Their military is mostly made up of Soviet tech that granted they upgraded but still stole a bunch too. The insults on Americans are tiresome and ignorant. Its about as ignorant as claiming conservatives are anti science when many of us are in the IT field and highly educated. My kids are brought up to be opened minded and use common sense when dealing with life, Just as i was taught to. My wife is far more educated that i am and yet she too questions many things in society and science such as climate change. Does that make her anti science? No, just willing to do the research before blindingly believing in something and yes we are evil Christians too.

      Most of us keep our opinions to ourselves but every so often i feel the need to point out reality. I dont generalize anyone else so i expect the same treatment in return. As i tell my kids, I'm an equal opportunity offender, I hate everyone equally until they prove to be otherwise.

      -Geekpoet

    4. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find it funny that you think working in IT means you can't be anti-science. If you don't believe in climate change then there is something wrong with how you approach science or reasoning. It really is as simple as that. You are willing to believe sources which are highly motivated to produce false or misleading results because they're funded by fossil fuel companies and disbelieve well established science which combines sound theory based on fully understood physical foundations and massive observational support. Some where in the chain of reasoning you've fallen for a con job.

    5. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      t. chink tank employee

    6. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I get that you feel Google is Your enemy, there fore you root for Ali Baba.
      But sometimes the enemy of your enemy still is your enemy as well.

    7. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Working in IT to science is like Farming to Combine design; i.e. nothing.
      Also, you can be educated (that is went to school) and ignorant at the same time.
      Lastly, belief system (your word) and the scientific method are mutually exclusive.

    8. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Greyfox · · Score: 0
      I think you're underestimating Americans' ability to stick their head in the sand. I legitimately had a co-worker argue the other day that since you can go to the emergency room and get treated even if you can't afford to pay, health care in this country is fine. No. Really. He said that. Any time anything comes from China about any scientific advances they've made, those sorts of people are going to claim it's because "they fake science."

      The sad fact of the matter is that the USA's educational system has been broken for decades and given the population disparity already working in favor of countries like China and India, they have a lot less work they need to do to surpass us than we do to maintain any sort of innovative lead. Guess what I'm trying to say is, it's a really good time to learn Mandarin.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    9. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You intentionally missed the posters point just so you could be a stupid prick.

      Congratulations. You succeeded.

    10. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Say what "Prejudiced much"?

      Apparently you are not familiar with China's policies when trying to do business with them where you are forced to turn over your tech which ends up being stolen and produced using cheaper methods.

      Just keep throwing the race card in an attempt to shutdown reality. Too bad it doesn't scare me.

      Geekpoet

    11. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nah, you will be fine with English, the trading tongue, sure it will change over time and incorporate other words from other languages, that can not be expressed in english, no word equivalent, without explaining them. Chinese can not win because, inefficient and a whole host of other languages ie German, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and even French. So bastardised English will trade dominate, for simple efficiency and neutral, American will be ignored of course.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    12. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I never said i dont believe in climate change, you did. I dont believe man is at fault for everything with the climate and just taxing us and removing fossil fuels will fix all the world's problems. As a logical and common sense person, the climate is always changing and goes in cycles, to say otherwise is ignorant. I also have a problem with the climate data when you cant get the original data, unmodified. However man can have an impact on the environment and needs handle things in a reasonable manor, not just based off extremes. In fact, the US is doing very well at reducing pollution without any paris accords. Better then just about any country. But keep believing all the claims about conservatives which are false. By the way, I'm s Blue Dog Democrat who believes in conservative ideas.

      - Geekpoet

    13. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Any time anything comes from China about any scientific advances they've made, those sorts of people are going to claim it's because "they fake science."

      That's because literally most of the "science" coming out of China is fake. We wait for corroboration before we believe because it's reasonable, not because we're prejudiced against Chinese people. The same people in a different system would probably produce superior output.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    14. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you do t believe in chicken little AGW then you either:
      1) dont give a shit / dont listen to anything, or
      2) believe the world is flat or 6000 years old or we never went to the moon or whatever, or
      3) you strongly believe in real science, which so-called climate science is not because they do not adhere to the scientific method.

      You appear to believe everyone falls into category 2 because you are a narcissist and bigot.

    15. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by bogaboga · · Score: 0

      Do you know of the quote:

      "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win,"

      Because if you do, you would know that China is advanced in many ways the USA can only dream of.

      They have most extensive modern & extensive high-speed rail net work in the world, with hardware Chinese built.

      They boast the biggest electric car manufacturing firms in the world. Forget Tesla.

      They have some of the most modern cities in the world. In fact, Shenzhen is more modern than New York.

      With 5G, they will soon boast the most modern communications platform.

      This all they'll do as we foment chaos in foreign lands - in short, waste resources.

    16. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Here's some of what I've learned over the years. I've been traveling to China for 20 years, lived in Shanghai from 2005 to 2011, and married a Chinese lady. I still spend about 3-4 months a year, at 2-4 weeks at a time, working with several Chinese suppliers and visiting friends and acquaintances.

      China, as a culture, does not have the same drive for innovation. Due to 40+ years of heavy, Government/Communist control (top-down), and the same ethos in most businesses (the boss is ALWAYS right, and you cannot challenge him unless you want to clean out your desk and move on), innovation really isn't rewarded, nor even encouraged.

      Innovation is looking at the world, and thinking "there's a better way". That is simply not what the ruling generation (50+), nor their kids, understand. Now THEIR kids (currently in grade school) will "get it", and change. The attitude is already starting to swing with the "gen X" age group, but out of deference to their parents and grandparents they maintain the old cultural norm against challenging your superiors.

      Additionally, the culture doesn't really do development well. There's a herd mentality, where there is often a good idea of where you are, where you want to be - and not a clue how to map out between the two. Most development happens the way most things in China happen - lots of people working on the problem and one of them gets lucky. There's very little planning and process down at the level needed for real development, or for any research/innovation.

      China, right now, really doesn't innovate. Even innovative companies start with someone else's direction, and typically require lots of intervention to complete their "innovation". There are a ton of really smart people over there, but culturally they are held back from actual innovation. Innovation happens with smart people in a room saying "we can do it better, and I can do better than you". China doesn't do that very well, at all, in a business situation. Doing better than your boss results in you losing your job - and thus it's implicitly discouraged to try to innovate.

      Go live in the culture over there for several months - you'll get it. New ideas aren't pursued, disagreements about direction/solutions is actively discouraged, not just doing as you're told risks losing your job.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    17. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even companies inside the US show Google what is possible from time to time, we wouldn't be having this conversation without Amazon building Alexa.

    18. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not Chinese, you're an outsider.

    19. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      Precisely. Which means I have a unique perspective and can better see the strengths and weaknesses of the culture.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    20. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More attempts to shutdown discussion by silly name calling that no is longer is effective.

      1. I don't give a shit yet all my vehicles are compacts except for my Silverado 2500 HD which I got from my late father which I don't drive unless it's really needed. I've upgraded all the appliances in our house to be more efficient, use only LED lights in the house, upgraded the insulation, replaced old windows with modern ones , etc. But sure if that's not trying to do my part then sure I don't care about anything.

      2. Making such claims like the earth is only 6000 years old is just ignorant. We have archeological finds like Göbekli Tepe which is estimated to be over 8000 years old. And that is just the easy one to express.

      3. As a blue dog democrat I do believe in real science including researching our environment. What I don't believe in political group think that tries to force silly policies that will end up hurting our economies by redistribution of wealth and giving breaks to countries like India and China which don't deserve any. Have you ever looked at the river Ganges with dead bodies and the trash yet they are given a break meanwhile the US which has made documented improvements and are attacked repeatedly without the need the Paris Accords?? But if we just give a whole bunch of money to the UN, they will take care of all of us.......Scary.

      Time and again, our sun has proven to have more of an effect on our environment than anything we do. We don't need adjusted data because the some of systems being used are either broken, giving poor readings, or put in completely stupid locations. Fix what is broken, but do not adjust the data. The data should speak for itself, not what someone thinks it should. The notion that if we just suddenly give up fossil fuels then all will be fixed...except for the fact that we don't have any charging stations rolled out like gas stations. You can't refill current battery tech like a tank of gas so any serious travel with electric vehicles is useless except for cars like the Volt which is being phased out. The current renewable tech doesn't allow semi trucks to drive cross country like you do with diesel trucks. I live in farm country and there is no way current tech can replace the needs of farm trucks and going to town means at least 30 to 40 mins.

      The reality is still the same, we will use Fossil fuels for many decades to come until real energy storage becomes available and can be recharged fully in 5 to 10 mins. We can still use solar and wind power where it's useful but renewable can't suddenly replace oil.

      -Geekpoet.

    21. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its only going to get worse. Many great U.S thinkers are immigrants. U.S used to brain drain, but now immigration is a bad thing.

    22. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since you know nothing about my background and stupidly assume that my education suddenly stopped once I left school is humorous. In case you didn't know, believing in a superior being and still believing in science is more that possible, it's required. How else would we enjoy all the tech we currently have as did our ancestors with their knowledge of the stars and structural engineering yet still believed in God.

      Open your eyes to the possibles, I did.

      -Geekpoet

    23. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Point 1. I don't believe there is an asian woman in the entire world desperate enough to put up with your whiny shit and Point 2. If by some arrangement you trapped one for a green card, just know for sure she LOATHES your ass.

      Like seriously she'll probably poison you, lol. It couldn't happen to a bigger gaijinn though.

    24. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Pentium100 · · Score: 1

      I'll add this:
      If the government really believed that we should not pollute and waste energy, it would tell people to NOT BUY stuff. DO NOT buy a new TV until the current one breaks beyond repair, DO NOT buy a new iPhone, DO NOT buy a new car if it is not orders of magnitude more efficient than your current one. DO NOT SPEND.

      Making things creates waste and uses energy. When you throw out a working TV, it creates waste, even if it is recycled, some waste is created and recycling uses energy (less than if the materials were dug up, but still more than if you kept using the TV). The government should tell people to buy used stuff instead of new, to reduce the need for manufacturing. The government should force companies to make stuff that lasts a long time (if you can buy a fridge that lasts 30 years, you won't need a fridge for 30 years).

      This would help the environment much more than banning inefficient lightbulbs or plastic straws. And yet, all the environmental efforts of government can be summed up as "BUY NEW STUFF", whether it's a car or a lightbulb.

      Oh yea, but this would hurt the profits of companies and the stock market. Which seems to be much more important than the environment. A fun coincidence is that the new environment protection efforts actually help company (though they may not be the same companies) profits.

      So yea, until the governemnt is willing to hurt the stock market and the super rich in an effort to clean up the environment, I won't believe the problem is big enough.

    25. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Doing better than your boss results in you losing your job - and thus it's implicitly discouraged to try to innovate.

      How is that different in the USA? HP turned down Steve Wozniak's desktop computer idea, and he had to quit to pursue it. The most successful startups begin in a garage, loft, or dorm, not a regular company with suits.

      One can relatively easily go off and start a company in China also. Perhaps the idea of challenging the boss or elders is somewhat more accepted here, but you usually have to kiss up to those who control your paycheck in any business. Take it from an American boat-rocker.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    26. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Oh silly AC! You were going SO WELL until you tried to end with an insult. You do realize that "gaijin" is a Japanese word? I believe you were looking for laowai (Mandarin) or Gwailou (Cantonese). The former really isn't much of an insult, or used as one that much. Gwailou, though, is definitely derogatory. But hey, you're just a keyboard commando trying to act all smart - and you showed us, didn't you!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    27. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      To paint them all with the same brush...

      Funny, that; parent didn't say a single thing about any Chinese person, much less all of them.

      I don't envy PLA shills: you have an even harder job than our own shills and yet you're even less competent... for cultural reasons or whatever, I just don't see you miserable fucks achieving the slightest success.

      Condolences, of course.

    28. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      Sadly, this still is popular among the older types. I work now in an environment where it is like this. If you make waves people will find ways to fire you. Last place was even worse where and give you bad performance reviews to HR without you or your boss knowing behind your back. Example your fly is down and HR gets 4 emails about it. I never found out who but I had to leave that other company by the time I found out grr. Some environments thrive on this. Others you make awesome friends and horrible enemies and go to the fights when you do try.

      Mark Cuban was fired from a computer franchise for not opening a store to secure a $300,000 deal. He was fired before that for chatting with executives and starting meetings on to improve business. His bosses did a WTF I AM THE BOSS WTF are you and fired him etc.

      Europe may come ahead as it is much harder to fire someone and at the end of the day people want to keep their jobs more than contributing to the organization in which I find very disheartening and sad.

      But Asia is a whole new level of serfdom as in Japan you can't leave your office unless your boss leaves first etc.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    29. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      How is that different in the USA?

      Pointing out a few anecdotes from the USA doesn't make it remotely the same. There's a real cultural difference that you're ignoring.

      HP turned down Steve Wozniak's desktop computer idea, and he had to quit to pursue it.

      Not the same thing. There's a big difference between rejecting ideas, and a bottom up request for ideas. Just because the former can happen in the USA doesn't mean the latter doesn't. Mind you it definitely doesn't in China. You do what your boss tells you, no more, no less. If you do more and it fails you will get fired. If you do more and it works you tell your boss who will sell it as his idea to his boss, who will sell it as his idea, etc etc etc. This is not just related to innovation, it is also directly related to routine work as well. The idea of helping someone (even your peer) is taboo as it will result in that person losing face higher up.

      While I worked in China we took to stealing work from those people who were falling behind because they refused to ask for help. I think the person was genuinely confused at our western ways and did not acknowledge that he didn't do all the work at all, until he was very drunk and we were alone, at which point he in the most literal sense bowed down before me.

      Perhaps the idea of challenging the boss or elders is somewhat more accepted here, but you usually have to kiss up to those who control your paycheck in any business.

      Again there's a difference between challenging your boss, and helping your boss challenge the ideas that the systems in place are not perfect. "Continuous Improvement" exists in America (and in Japan as well since that's where it ultimately came from). Not so in China.

    30. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Many of these anecdotes do come from the types of people with incredibly high net worth in the USA for a reason. That upper tier is mostly staffed by narcissists and an old guard. The fact that people will back stab each other over positions doesn't change the fundamental cultural difference between the USA and China.

      In America a request for innovation flows down, now depending on the size of the company this often results in naval-gazing and pointless alignment meetings to drive buzzword so the buzzword buzzword, but ultimately it falls on the lower. Instructions are often generic, and down the line people are left with a wide scope of how to achieve the overall goal (usually to make more money).

      In China the same instructions will be very specific. They will filter down unquestioningly to the person who ultimately needs to carry out said instruction. They won't entertain the idea of deviating or making a better way. There is no disagreement and if it doesn't work people clean out their desks.

    31. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      health care in this country is fine.

      Healthcare in America is FANTASTIC. It's the financial care that you require afterwards that lets the country down. :-)

    32. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Shenzhen is where all that has changed. It's like the Silicon Valley of China.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    33. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 1

      You need to recheck your cultural superiority complex. You can tell yourself that the Chinese don't "innovate" to help yourself feel better but that doesn't make it true. The uncomfortable truth is that state sanctioned hacking and stealing of foreign technology is a part of China's innovation. China turned its 1.4 billion citizens, that was once consider to be a burden, ie too many mouth to feed, into the world's biggest honeypot to lure in foreign corporations and siphons off their trade secrets through technology transfer. Furthermore, the communist Chinese government morphed its entire populace into a workforce for the capitalistic market, turning what was once a dirt poor agrarian nation into a economic power house. That's not innovation?

      Take a look at China's high speed rail infrastructure, emerging aviation industry, military industry, space program, and tech sector. Sure, most of them were co-opted from foreign sources, but China has succeeded in incorporating them into their industrial DNA, with unmistakable "Chinese" characteristics.

      China walls off foreign tech companies, nurtures its own nascent tech sector, then those tech companies IPO in foreign stock exchanges, hauling in foreign cash to further grow in their protected tech sector. That's not innovation?

      That generation of older Chinese whom you derisively believe has a herd mentality, is currently trampling the world consumer markets with Chinese made products, automating their factories, and buying up real estates worldwide. Oh', and those Chinese who dare to do better than their bosses, becomes their own boss, further quickening the pace of innovation though marketplace competition.

    34. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It means you haven't a clue what you are talking about. You lack the experience to do so.

      I am Chinese and I'm telling you this.

    35. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      The same people in a different system would probably produce superior output.

      And they do. Mandarin Chinese have about an order of magnitude higher average IQ than, say, Euro-Americans. Which is why US universities discriminate against them.

    36. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      You don't have to worry about evil corporate profits to understand why that wouldn't work.

      The government is "the few". Piss off a bunch of rich people who own and/or run companies and they have a problem.

      Piss off everyone in the entire country by telling them that they cannot have the things they want, and you aren't running the government any more.

      Heck, banning alcohol in the US created a culture of widespread criminality as people ignored the regulations. The current drug war has wrought similar problems, albeit on a smaller scale. But start telling people they can't have a nice, new TV or car because the snail darter will be incrementally less threatened.... well, that isn't going to go well for you. Same goes for telling them they aren't allowed to have a hamburger because cows use too much land to make food.

      None of that is driven by scary, evil "corporate masters". That's simple politics. People will only tolerate so much crap before they change the government.

    37. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Pentium100 · · Score: 1

      And yet, the government runs ads against alcohol and has banned smoking in some areas. So, there should also be ads against consumerism, telling people of the options they have beside going and buying the new shiny.

      Otherwise it really seems like the environment is just another excuse the government and the companies use to make people buy things or pay money:
      Internal combustion engine cars are wasteful - buy these new electric cars, look how cheap they are to run and ignore the fact that ~50% of gasoline price is actually tax and if/when electric cars become popular their drivers will get to pay the same tax as gasoline car drivers pay now.

    38. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nah, there is juste more of them so more smart people.

    39. Re:I somehow feel good about this... by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Any time anything comes from China about any scientific advances they've made, those sorts of people are going to claim it's because "they fake science."

      I don't know about Chinese science, but I assume that any tech demo, especially if prerecorded, is fake. At least when announcing breakthrough technology.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    40. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Pointing out a few anecdotes from the USA doesn't make it remotely the same.

      Note that I am responding to a post that was supported with only anecdotes. Why should one person's anecdotes override another's?

      "Continuous Improvement" exists in America

      Often it's only on paper; a Dilbertian exercise in buzzword compliance.

      I will agree that more autonomy is probably tolerated in US companies, but the level and proportion is hard to objectively measure. If anyone wishes to provide an objective study on such, it would be welcomed.

      Also, Japan does quite well economically despite having very top-down and seniority-oriented corporations. However, they do specialize in precision and quality more so than start-ups and being first-to-market. Maybe China will end up doing something similar.

      Startups also are common in China. If a boss is holding one back there, they too can leave and form a new company.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    41. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More propaganda from the east. Nothing new. China is cool, China is awesome. We do great things.

      Meanwhile you guys are KNOWN for being stealers and thiefs. Kind of like Somalia is known for pirates. It's quite sad actually.

    42. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      His point was being a racist asshole. You're doing a pretty good job of it too.

    43. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      HP turned him down; in China, he would have been fired on the spot. That's the difference. In the US, bringing up ideas different from what your boss considered typically doesn't get you canned...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    44. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Stealing is innovation. Got it.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    45. Re: I somehow feel good about this... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Note that I am responding to a post that was supported with only anecdotes. Why should one person's anecdotes override another's?

      The GP's anecdotes are 100% in line with the cultural and historic practices of the country. Yours are not. People's anecdotes don't invalidate each other, not unless everyone has the same anecdote, ... then we call that data.

      Often it's only on paper

      Which is a key step to make it happen in practice. There's a difference between companies that fail to implement something they talk about and companies that don't even talk about it in the first place. Many American companies are the former.

  2. Oranges to apples? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    A domain-specific bot, such as package delivery, is much easier to tune and perfect then a general assistant which has to handle a wider array of topics.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Oranges to apples? by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the article: "That Alibaba's voice assistant can do so suggests it's more sophisticated than Google Duplex, judging from similar sample calls demoed by Google. It's worth noting, however, that Alibaba's demo call is designed for onstage presentation; the experience could differ in reality. Currently, the agent is used only to coordinate package deliveries, but Jin said it could be expanded to handle other topics. He wouldn't fully reveal how the assistant was trained..."

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    2. Re:Oranges to apples? by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Because as we all know, the actual product always works as well as the marketing demonstration. Similarly, companies (especially Chinese ones) would never lie about or misrepresent the capabilities of a product.

    3. Re:Oranges to apples? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well we have also had "on stage" demos go completely wrong for Microsoft and Apple. I get that it can be rigged, but it seems like the US based ones can't even get that right. My neighbor has a google voice module. She demoed it and it barely worked. It came back with "I'm sorry I did not understand" or the equivalent. I thought it was so bad how could anyone sell such a piece of crap, but hey google, apple they are cool even their feces.

    4. Re:Oranges to apples? by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

      Because as we all know, the actual product always works as well as the marketing demonstration.

      Even the marketing demonstrations don't work.

    5. Re:Oranges to apples? by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Exactly right.
      Oddly, the author, Karen Hao, is an ME that did not cut it in that field, so tried software in data, but apparently was not good enough, and now is trying to be a reporter in AI. So, she is now trying to learn how to be both a reporter and how AI works.
      She obviously has some work to do.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    6. Re:Oranges to apples? by WindBourne · · Score: 2

      yes, but it is NOT Alibaba that is doing the misrepresentation. It is Karen Hao who got here ME, but could not go with it. So, she has tried to move to software with data and apparently failed at that. Now is working on being a reporter and in AI. Sadly, she does NOT have a background in either software OR AI, so does not understand why this article has MAJOR issues. And yeah, Tabilizer is spot on.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    7. Re:Oranges to apples? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Nicely researched and convincingly argued (although reading the article isn't hard research, it is more than many people do).

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    8. Re:Oranges to apples? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      TFA is fine. It explains clearly in layperson language what the three main issues that the AI handles are (interruption, nonlinear conversation and implicit intent) and then explains that Google's similarly pre-recorded demo did not demonstrate an ability to handle them.

      She then notes the limitations of the system and what was not demonstrated or revealed by Alibaba (a live demo or opportunity to test it herself, and the exact training method beyond a mention of the vast number of similar calls they handle every day in their call centre).

      Can you state exactly how this is misleading or how Hao failed to understand it? It seems like she has a better grasp of the demonstration than you do.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Oranges to apples? by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I gotta agree..... the "better than google" bit was a little on the click-bait side, but other than that, it was a bog standard article covering a tech demo. They are usually not terribly critical of the claims presented, unless they are obviously fraudulent from the jump.

      This was a decent summary of what was presented.

    10. Re: Oranges to apples? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dummmmmasss

  3. Who did they steal it from? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How else do you match or surpass a giant like Google? That or aliens.

    1. Re: Who did they steal it from? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? Alexa has surpassed all these for many years. Why is this even a slashdot topic?

  4. Cool by Kohath · · Score: 0

    It shows how a business with a practical need can outperform a science experiment.

    I'm sure the Google guys working on Google Duplex feel good about themselves and their team's commitment to diversity (or whatever other talking-points Google people recite to each other) though.

    1. Re:Cool by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

      Another thing broken on YouTube: until recently I could click the button to enable subtitles at any time. But since the last few days if I don't click before some unknown other shit on the page loads, the button does not work.

      They're breaking things that used to work perfectly. What a bunch of dumbasses.

  5. Me so solly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah so - me like a the flied lice:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  6. Re:Grow up nazi INCELs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Furthermore, if you call the package delivery system it has a translation problem if you initiate the call. It will say no thank you repeatedly to everything (in Mandarin of course). This is convenient because you don't even need to call it to know what it will say.

  7. Knowing the region by ArchieBunker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's probably more mechanical turk than AI bot.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Knowing the region by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's probably more mechanical turk than AI bot.

      Knowing the region, it's more arrest warrant than package delivery.

      I mean the AI bot already caught you jaywalking. Now that you're publicly dissing the AI bot, your social score has dropped below the required level to stay out of re-education camp.

    2. Re:Knowing the region by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      Yes. Everything that comes from China needs to be taken with a large bucket of salt.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    3. Re:Knowing the region by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You can buy salt by the bucket from Alibaba. A company whose market cap is about to surpass that of Amazon.

      Salt is healthy in this regard. But taking don't cause yourself blood pressure issues just because of Jhina

    4. Re:Knowing the region by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      It's probably more mechanical turk than AI bot.

      I had a similar thought upon seeing the demo presentation...

      You could build that interaction with a Genesys IVR system.... heck, you could have built it 10 years ago... and it wouldn't have a lick of AI involved. It would be extremely cool and a great use of IVR, but it wouldn't be groundbreaking.

        Building that interaction without any specific question/response trees and completely using AI to understand the conversation is a completely different animal and is amazing. It isn't clear exactly where this falls on the spectrum, nor is it clear that this is a voice assistant that goes beyond what google can do or is more widely available than google's (or Amazon, or Apple, or...)

      I'm not saying it isn't either..... these are huge companies with huge customer bases and extremely large incentives to get natural language interactions automated in order to serve their customers better, so it stands to reason that they'd make this sort of breakthrough. But that demo wasn't really proof of anything earth shattering in AI. The fact that these are very task-specific agents suggests that they are closer to a very sophisticated IVR than they are to a complete natural language AI that can handle a wide array of requests in natural language.

      In fact, the article pretty much says this... they have "shipping agents" that handle scheduling package delivery. And "scheduling agents" that they are working on for making reservations.

      Building this with IVR technology would be a hard and complex task... but it doesn't require a full AI to do something like that demo.

  8. To make matters worse ... by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 1

    The NYC Coroner's office uses the Alibaba Voice Assistant to schedule pick-ups. /too-soon?

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  9. Well, American companies already cripple their AI by Jarwulf · · Score: 0

    assistants intentionally in the name of feminism https://qz.com/work/1180607/am... so making assistants better and less annoying than theirs shouldn't be as hard as it sounds.

  10. Knowing ArchiBunker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's probably talking out of one of his six or seven functional assholes, not including all the ones on his fat face. He has no idea, he just wants to pretend China can't manage AI better than Google, a low bar.

    Imagine all the stains on that barcalounger over the years as he oozes his Libertarian parfum.

    1. Re:Knowing ArchiBunker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mad

  11. Re: Well, American companies already cripple their by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shitty smelly hindu-chimps have a call center in shitty jungle to respond as Cortana.

  12. I'd much rather have a "smart assisstant" by bobstreo · · Score: 1

    to answer my phone, and keep Indian "Microsoft Technical Support" callers busy for an hour or two.

    Or route calls from unknown callers to the appropriate /dev/null mailbox. It shouldn't be quite as bad as "Lenny" as long as it keeps them busy not bothering actual humans.

    A "Smart Assistant" could also take calls and appropriately pass on information that was actually of value without filling up my phone inbox.

  13. Chasing the Wrong Goal Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I don't want to talk to a machine like it's a person. It's not a person.

    I want to talk to a machine like it's a machine. Give me efficient interactions, avoid fake emotions, and don't try to be something you're not.

  14. Re: Well, American companies already cripple their by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is funny. Would you prefer they have shitty turds like yourself.

  15. The rest of the conversation by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    ...
    C: I'm not home in the morning.
    A: Then do you have another address that you'd like to use?
    C: Can you reschedule for later in the day?
    A: I see that your reputation score is low. By asking us to reschedule, your score will drop lower. Are you sure you want to do that?
    C: Oh, sorry.
    A: It is too late. You have asked about rescheduling. We are cancelling your delivery and reporting your bad behavior. Would you prefer the corrections officers visit you in the morning or the afternoon?
    C: ... the afternoon I guess.
    A: By selecting the afternoon, you have demonstrated an unwillingness to cooperate and also the potential for being a flight risk. I am locking all your doors and blocking your cell phone from the network. Please wait for the corrections squad.
    C: Please, is there anything I can do?
    A: Have a nice day!

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:The rest of the conversation by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      It's funny because you said that here, not in China....

  16. Chinese speech recognition easier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because relative tone in Chinese (3 for Mandarin, 4 for Cantonese), speech recognition is easier than English.

    I'd like to see the real-world use case for English before making conclusions on its superiority.

    1. Re:Chinese speech recognition easier by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Wait, are you serious? Ever listened in on a Mandarin-to-Mandarin phone call in China? Half the details have to be repeated because they are so close to each other, that a little tone or distortion in the phone system completely changes the meaning of the sentence. Each syllable is a complete word, unlike most of English. So if you get the syllable wrong - you get the entire word wrong. With words that have multiple syllables, you can still infer what was meant because the other syllables are right.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    2. Re: Chinese speech recognition easier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ive listen to various Chinese dialects ti various chinese dialects... They dont repeat like you mentioned.

      It may sound like they do cos its similar.

    3. Re:Chinese speech recognition easier by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Err none of that is true.

      Mandarin has 5 tones (4 + neutral)
      Cantonese has 6 tones.

      Chinese is far more difficult to write speech recognition for.

      The only way it wins is in terms of accents. Being a tonal language there's no room for accents to mess up the language. You're either saying something in an understandable way or you're not.

      What is easier for Chinese is to create a computer based voice synthesizer since tones and individual words stand on their own.

  17. Live Agents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's probably more mechanical turk than AI bot.

    Exactly what I was thinking. Every unit has a dedicated spy, er, agent monitoring your home, er, commands.

  18. decency, not feminism. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 2

    Well, American companies already cripple their AI assistants intentionally in the name of feminism

    It's not crippled, it just doesn't indulge people in their own reprehensible behavior.

    From the article:

    In spring of 2017, Alexa’s writers gave her a “disengage mode.” She now responds to sexually explicit questions by saying either “I’m not going to respond to that,” or “I’m not sure what outcome you expected.”

    Sorry if you this triggers you but you're being a real snowflake.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re: decency, not feminism. by Jarwulf · · Score: 1

      Programs are not people. You can't be reprehensible to ones and zeros, get a hold of yourself.

    2. Re: decency, not feminism. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

      The behavior is reprehensible all on it's own, no second person required, snowflake. Mayhaps you need a dictionary to understand the word?

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    3. Re: decency, not feminism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ZOMG thought crime!!!!!!!

    4. Re: decency, not feminism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are calling people snowflakes, yet you are offended by people asking a bot sexual questions?

      Get a hold of yourself man. You're losing it.

  19. Programs are not people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, American companies already cripple their AI assistants intentionally in the name of feminism

    It's not crippled, it just doesn't indulge people in their own reprehensible behavior.

    From the article:

    In spring of 2017, Alexa’s writers gave her a “disengage mode.” She now responds to sexually explicit questions by saying either “I’m not going to respond to that,” or “I’m not sure what outcome you expected.”

    Sorry if you this triggers you but you're being a real snowflake.

    A program is not a person. There is no such thing as "reprehensible behavior" in relation to peoples interactions with programs. The sooner we stamp out this dangerous illusion/delusion that people keep displaying for treating machines like people the better. An abstraction cannot consciously experience existence anymore than the number 3 or a cartoon can.

  20. It's AI superior assistant because... by iAm9001 · · Score: 1

    It's probably actually a human pretending to be a robot so that they can spy on you, all the while impressing you with China's "AI" capabilities.

  21. Ugh, you're one of those by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Disgusting McConnell traitor died of yellow fever.

    1. Re:Ugh, you're one of those by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so random person post hateful comment in attempt to do what exactly??

      -Geekpoet

  22. Telemarketers by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

    If it can recover from an interruption without starting over, it's already better than at least 95% of all telemarketers out there. Most of them have their pitches memorized and can't pick up where they left off. If you've got the time, try breaking in repeatedly and see how many times they'll start over before giving up.

    --
    Good, inexpensive web hosting
  23. Lies? by Vanyle · · Score: 1

    Can someone give me clarification on a few things here?

    Where is the info on the release? The article mentioned talks about a demo on December 2nd, but that is all I am seeing. There is mention of a chat bot used by 20% of the people.

    Where is the proof that it is better? They show 7 lines from a demo. This could have been attempted 50 times. It was also translated from Chinese for the posting. Was the syntax okay, or was it butchered like a foreigner? And why only 7 lines translated?

    This reeks of something fishy.

  24. Simple NLP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There was nothing in that demo that stood out as better than google. NLP with Google DialogFlow and Amazon Alexa can handle all of the same cases. Its just a matter of working through the scenarios and handling the responses. The interruption "who are you" was obviously coded for.

  25. Should we really be impressed? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The way it responded to the question isn't the proper path it should take, and as people have pointed out, it's both a scripted recording and the bot is only set to do one thing.

  26. This is s competition nobody cares about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People would card about keeping their jobs and decision making intact than let some assistant algorithm do things for them.

  27. Two words... by Xenna · · Score: 1

    Happy...
    Flow...

    I really want to feel happy too, but when I look at Ali Express' completely pathetic attempts to automatically translate their product listings in Dutch I'm not convinced at all.

    When looking for electronics components online the word 'pitch' is used a lot (as in 0.1 pitch). This is consistently translated to 'frequency of tone' by AliXP's retarded AI.

  28. So they just put in a few more if-else statements by ayesnymous · · Score: 1

    than Google did.

  29. Cainiao means noobie in Chinese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Y'all niggaz iz getting trolled.

    Captcha: pronouns

  30. Propaganda police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Follow your dear leaders
    Want to know more?

  31. Corporate Espionage by maxbuzz · · Score: 1

    Alibaba utilizes corporate espionage to make a better product and passes the savings on to their customers.