Smart personal assistant

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An intelligent personal assistant , also called a voice assistant or mobile assistant , is software that enables information to be queried by means of communication in natural, human language, to conduct dialogues and to provide assistance services by performing a language analysis for language recognition , interpreting it semantically and processing it logically and as a result formulated a response through speech synthesis . From around 2012, such applications found widespread use mainly on smartphones . The concept of the voice assistant is to be distinguished from the smart speaker , which only designates a certain type of front end for them.

Software technology used

In order for a verbal input to be made by the user, it must first be recognized and understood. Speech recognition and parsing algorithms are used. A recognized term is then delegated to a corresponding application. More advanced assistants can ask the user questions or ask for confirmation if anything is unclear. The aim of the development is to create the most seamless and trustworthy voice dialogue between man and machine. Semantic technologies can be used to make linguistic contexts understandable to a computer so that it can recognize relevant keywords as specific commands. In order to enable the fastest possible response times, most of the data is processed on the provider's servers, i.e. H. an internet connection is necessary. Registration via a user account is also usually required.

Commercial products

Currently (mid-2019) there are Google Assistant , Siri , Alexa ( Amazon Echo ), Cortana , Bixby (Samsung) , Hallo Magenta (Telekom) and HiVoice (Huawei). LOUPVENTURES compared Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa and Cortana. This was done in the following way: 800 questions were asked of each system. The following two criteria were assessed: Did the system understand the question? Was the answer correct? The Google Assistant was the clear test winner in autumn 2018.

Demarcation

Intelligent personal assistants are applied technology from the areas of artificial intelligence , especially machine language processing or computational linguistics within cognitive systems . They mostly work as an application on an operating system or are integrated into it. A virtual assistant is a form of outsourcing by external staff. Intelligent virtual agents can complement such systems as visual embodiment to enable a personal and emotional connection. They may represent a further development of the language assistants who lack the ability to communicate non-verbally .

Complementary end devices

The personal assistants were initially limited to use via PCs or smartphones , but various manufacturers have started to offer their own hardware products for the personal assistants. These devices, known as smart speakers , are usually wirelessly connected to the Internet and a user account and can then start the service. Current offerings include devices like Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot , Google Home, and Apple's HomePod . Other providers have announced or introduced end devices, including new device categories (televisions, refrigerators, cars and other devices). The services of the end devices are mostly still (as of February 2018) limited to the software services of the respective provider, which limits the flexibility of the user in the selection and can therefore also be viewed critically.

As of 2020, most consumers in Germany use a personal assistant on their smartphone. 66 percent of those who use a digital assistant do so on their smartphones. This is followed by tablets (41 percent), smart speakers (26 percent), smart TVs (21 percent), as well as smartwatches and headphones (7 percent each).

Most widespread application scenarios

Most intelligent personal assistant users use them to control music or radio by voice. Almost four out of five users (79 percent) of the assistants stated this in a representative survey in 2020. It is also common to use voice commands to control household appliances (74 percent). Frequently information is also requested, such as departure times for public transport (40 percent) or traffic news (38 percent). A good third (36 percent) start Internet research by voice.

Bots and Conversational Commerce

Through the interaction of assistants with the company's own bots , ordering and purchasing processes can be carried out simply by entering speech. No additional apps need to be installed for this. This type of e-commerce is also called Conversational Commerce (dt. Dialog trade ), referred to the customer experience of the future. Voice or speaker recognition is intended to prevent unwanted ordering processes, which manufacturers of " smart speakers " failed to do at the beginning. Moderators and commercials had (partly on purpose) provided for such cases. The use of such loudspeaker devices for sudden advertising announcements is also controversial. Amazon's patents also point to the acoustic detection of colds by users, which could result in an offer for cold medication.

Risks

On the part of users of IPAs, trust in the provider is essential for deciding how to use the assistant. A warning is issued against possible misuse of such software. The easier collection of personal data for advertising purposes is also viewed critically.

Trivia

Both the voice and the name of such assistance systems are predominantly female. Exceptions are, for example, the language versions of Siri in Arabic, French, Dutch and in British English, as the default voice is male.

Such assistants are shown in various science fiction films, although the above-mentioned limits cannot be clearly defined, e.g. a:

HAL-9000 in particular has gained popularity through the success of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey". As the first linguistic-interactive artificial intelligence in a blockbuster, the phrase became famous: "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that." (In the English original: "Sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.") As a meme it is often still around today. a. in forums.

Development of voice assistants

The development of the language assistant goes back to about 1877. At that time, Thomas Edison invented the "Parlograph" or "Ediphone", the first purely mechanical dictation machine. Bell Laboratories laid the next milestone in 1930 with their Voder. It is a keyboard-controlled electronic device that could synthesize speech. 22 years later, Bell Laboratories developed the Automatic Digit Recognizer "Audrey". The device could understand numbers from 0 to 9. Ten years later, IBM's “Shoebox” solved simple math problems using voice commands.

DARPA program laid the foundation for modern voice assistants

A research program by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, made major breakthroughs in the development of voice assistants. It took place from 1971 to 1976 and produced the "Harpy", "Hearsay-II" and "Dragon" systems. The latter has been continuously developed to this day. It is known as "Dragon NaturallySpeaking" and is now distributed by Nuance Communications (formerly ScanSoft).

Providers bring voice control to home computers

In the 1980s and 1990s, Apple, IBM and Microsoft, among others, worked to improve speech recognition. At the beginning of the 2000s, they integrated speech recognition into computer programs, such as Windows Vista, which appeared in 2007. At the same time, the National Security Agency (NSA) began using speech recognition software to filter out key terms from intercepted conversations.

Distribution of voice assistants via smartphones

In the 2010s, intelligent personal assistants should also find their way into the private sector. It all started with Siri, developed by SIRI Inc. since 2007 and bought by Apple in 2010. The voice assistant first appeared on the iPhone 4s in 2011 and is now an essential part of all Apple products. The search engine giant Google has also developed an intelligent voice assistant via the voice-controlled telephone assistant Demokratie-411 and the voice search app Google Now. The Google Assistant has been available for end users since 2016 and is now available for Android, Google Home and iOS. Known as artificial intelligence from the Halo game series, Microsoft's Cortana saw the light of day in the meantime (2014). The voice assistant first appeared on Windows Phone 8.1 and is available today for Windows 10 and iOS. Amazon's Alexa has been supporting users of the intelligent echo speakers in everyday life since 2015. It plays music, creates appointments or provides information on the latest news.

Voice assistants control the intelligent home

Today, consumers can use intelligent virtual assistants for far more. Because the voice assistants control your own home on demand. You turn on lights, turn on the heating or lock the front door.

At the end of 2019, 60 percent of all Germans had had their own experience with the technology. 11 percent even use them every day. Particularly interesting: The basis of the modern language assistants was provided by the results of the DARPA program of the 1970s, in particular the Dragon system developed in the process.

See also

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  2. Jörg Breithut: Comparison with Alexa, Cortana and Siri: Google's voice assistant tops its competitors . In: Spiegel Online . December 21, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 22, 2018]).
  3. Tobias Költzsch: Samsung wants to bring voice assistants to many more devices. In: golem.de. October 19, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2018 .
  4. Intelligent voice assistants: Two functions are particularly popular. July 25, 2020, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  5. Popular helpers: voice assistants have established themselves. Bitkom press release. July 24, 2020, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  6. Onlim: Conversational Commerce - The customer experience of the future. In: onlim.com. June 26, 2018, accessed on July 28, 2020 (German).
  7. Set up and activate voice recognition. In: giga.de . Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  8. Amazon Echo orders lots of dollhouses all by itself. In: noz.de. Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  9. The voice assistants are getting intrusive. In: sueddeutsche.de . Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  10. Alexa hears you cough. Amazon receives patent for the sick. In: heise.de . Retrieved January 21, 2019 .
  11. ^ Gavin Kenny: I know everything about you! The rise of the Intelligent Personal Assistant. In: securityintelligence.com. August 12, 2015, accessed December 29, 2017 .
  12. Tom Simonite: Making money with assistants. In: Technology Review Online. 3rd June 2016.
  13. Marie Kilg: Gender of Artificial Intelligences: "Siri, fuck?": Alexa, Siri, Cortana and Jenn - computer voices are generally programmed as female. That says a lot about our dealings with women. In: taz.de . May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2017 .
  14. Unesco report: Language assistants have sexism problem. Retrieved May 24, 2019 .


  1. Audrey, IBM Shoebox, ViaVoice, Dragon, Siri, Google Now, Cortana: The History of Automatic Speech Recognition. Retrieved March 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Voice assistants: our connection to artificial intelligence. Retrieved March 18, 2020 .
  3. Survey on the use of voice controls in Germany 2019. Retrieved on March 23, 2020 .
  4. The history of voice assistants. Retrieved March 23, 2020 .
  5. Nils J. Nilsson: The Search for Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Successes . Ed .: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft AKA. 2014, ISBN 978-3-89838-665-4 .