Artifical intelligence is changing the technology sector. Of special interest for the telecom sector is the voice assistant. We are used to a a very extensive system of user interfaces and the use of the human voice could drastically change that system. Applications such as Alexa (Amazon), Siri (Apple) and the Google Assistant are the most important products. It's still unclear whether the human voice will make all the other user interfaces superfluous and what the broader implications are.
User interface: hardware and software
Alongside broadband and devices, the user interface (UI) is what makes it possible for us to use digital services. The UI includes myriad components, hardware and software, depending on the device - from the remote control and TV menu, to the keyboard of a computer or the touchscreen and on-screen keyboard of a smartphone. There's also the operating system, browsers, search engines and apps.
Machine learning: microphone and camera
Machine learning is all over the news.
- Apple has acquired Shazam, the app that recognises songs and other content based on the audio track. A link to Siri, Apple's voice assistant, is clear.
- Amazon has expanded its Music Unlimited service, a direct competitor of YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, to 28 new countries. At the same time, its Amazon Echo (smart speaker) goes on sale in the same countries, fitted with Alexa (in English).
- At the launch of Google's new Pixel smartphones in October, machine learning was also prominent in the presentation. Google supports identification in five areas: handwriting, voice, face, music and objects.
In all these developments, two well-known sensors play a crucial role: the microphone and the camera.
UI of the future: voice?
The human voice and as such the microphone are taking up an important role as they can act as a substitute for written text and the keyboard. The resulting voice assistants can completely change the current UI system. What will this mean for search engines (i.e. Google)? For apps? And for the hardware market?
The consequences may be huge, but are difficult to predict. Even a major player like Amazon appears to be divided, now that it's added a screen to some of its smart speakers. Amazon too doesn't seem to be ready for a complete move to voice as UI.
