We have a theory in technology; people don’t like to do weird stuff. This is one reason why, we believe, Glass never caught on. Most people don’t want to wear a computer on their face. Smartwatches suffer from some of this syndrome, as many don’t want to do complex computing tasks. While squinting at a tiny screen on their wrist. However, it is more natural. And the more human-like the Assistant can be. The fewer people will feel like they’ve invited a killer robot into their home. An assistant should engage in more natural conversation by listening for follow-up questions or commands after it answers. This type of engagement will be necessary for third-party agents. Getting a recipe or a walkthrough on a how-to guide will generate follow-up questions.
Bot Smart
Intelligent conversations need innovative partners. The Assistant can quickly improve in the near term with a larger team of buddies specializing in different tasks. For example, currently, we can ask for the latest score for the State Warriors game or when they play next. We could invoke an agent from ESPN or another sports provider. Who would be able to answer more detailed questions. About a player’s performance, read out relevant news stories, or even participate in a trivia game? When developers get on board, the actions could look very much like this, according to Google: In Google’s example, a personal chef can be awakened to offer you some tips. These interactions at a deeper level shouldn’t all be handled by Google’s algorithms. News providers and third-party app services can offer a larger bank of specialized knowledge for their areas of expertise. The same can be said for numerous other services. Imagine tapping into the deep recipe bank of Blue Apron. Getting step-by-step directions or a walkthrough on how to replace a door handle. Again, the vision will best be served by different app services taking advantage of Google’s developer tools.
The Ultimate TV Experience
The announcement at CES of the updated Nvidia Shield and its inclusion of the Assistant got me thinking. About how this could be the perfect TV companion. This occurred to us when we saw a preview for Taboo on FX. Let’s say, Ok, record Taboo, or remind me when Taboo is on. The promise of a more brilliant TV existence is just around the road. But it needs to go deeper than searching for a TV show title or movie recommendations. The Assistant can learn your preferences and become more competent than the tools you get from your dumb TV box. But we should be able to ask questions about the programming, get details about the historical period. Schedule and save programming from anywhere the Assistant is. The Apple TV Xbox has tried to get there, but no one’s quite nailed it. The Assistant should be the control if there is a YouTube TV service.
Engaging with the G Suite
While attending Dreamforce last year. We were shown a development version of an Echo that had Alexa programmed to interact with the company’s Salesforce services. We could request invoice file paperwork with just a few voice commands. It was a much better experience than navigating the drop-down menus found in most enterprise software or the Office ribbon. Google’s G Suite consumer-focused apps are a perfect target for such integration. Later we’d love to ask Drive for a status update on a document that our collaborators are working on. Or how many words are in a current file. You can dictate your writing in Docs, but an Assistant could take things much further. Since the Assistant can currently dictate a text message crafting, replying to emails or other productivity tasks isn’t a stretch. Instead of asking for an update. It may be the Assistant talking to us about the latest going on with the workflow.
