[TV] If you are an Amazon Alexa user

[Easy 10]

what if you think you're right and Alexa says you're wrong?

Do you get some sort of reward at the end like a little drawer opens containing a monkey nut or something?

She's female. Hence even if I know I'm right, there's really very little point arguing with it.

 

[lawros left foot]

Yep.

Like cars, trains, planes, phones, computers, farmers, butchers, supermarkets, clothes manufacturers, lawnmowers...

I don’t own one due to not wanting a spy in the house. “But they don’t record anything you say”, you say? Well, I don’t know about that.

It would be nice to have someone listen to what I say, in my house

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

Mine misheard me the other day, "start my day" became "my days left" and I was told I only have 29 years left on this earth. Felt like just crying there in the kitchen.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Yep, but disabled Siri with a hack from one of the software guys at work.

I really don't think apple are likely to spy on you, more likely google and amazon. But why would they do that when people enter information freely anyway?

You mean the 'off' switch in the settings?

Lol!

 

[Eeyore]

what if you think you're right and Alexa says you're wrong?

Do you get some sort of reward at the end like a little drawer opens containing a monkey nut or something?

Don't argue, she'll only hold it against you. She has a longer memory than yours.

 

[Goldstone1976]

I really don't think apple are likely to spy on you, more likely google and amazon. But why would they do that when people enter information freely anyway?



Lol!

Did you think that Apple were the sort of company that would deliberately slow down older models of their phones through OS updates to “encourage” their customers to buy a new one?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Did you think that Apple were the sort of company that would deliberately slow down older models of their phones through OS updates to “encourage” their customers to buy a new one?

Yes i do. I am by no means a fan of apple having been a keen Android user since the beginning early days of Android when Google was desperately trying to catch up with the original iPhone.

Apple, in comparison to both Google and Amazon, has a far better record of protecting customer privacy. Both of those companies use data to maximize profits whereas Apple is more centered on hardware.

In any case, i believe anything analysed through the use of home assistants would be non specific and tend to deal with trends rather than a case of big brother listening to every boring conversation about the Albion and what I'm having for tea.

 

[Seasider78]

Prefer this version

https://youtu.be/z3TNGDVOMA4

 

[Goldstone1976]

Apple, in comparison to both Google and Amazon, has a far better record of protecting customer privacy. Both of those companies use data to maximize profits whereas Apple is more centered on hardware.

In any case, i believe anything analysed through the use of home assistants would be non specific and tend to deal with trends rather than a case of big brother listening to every boring conversation about the Albion and what I'm having for tea.

I agree that historically Apple have been more hardware-centric than both Amazon and Google. I believe that will change as they consider the profits to be made in exploiting the data they hold, and could hold.

No person is going to listen to Siri or Alexa (but you know that). Instead, software created to listen for keywords will be used. There are hundreds of published papers on this topic, with academics either being funded by the big tech companies or their employees being co-authors. In the introduction to the very first paper that I opened in response to your post I find this:

“We are interested in enabling users to have a fully hands-free experience by developing a system that listens continuously for specific keywords”. https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//pubs/archive/42537.pdf

Once the software is listening for keywords to assist the device’s owner get their question (or whatever) to their device in a easier and more reliable way, it is a tiny technological step to then store that data and analyse it for whatever purposes the company wants.

Initially, such data will be used for targeted advertising of course. Beyond that, the possibilities are boundless, restricted only by imagination &/or governmental regulation (or their request for data).

All imo, of course.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

I agree that historically Apple have been more hardware-centric than both Amazon and Google. I believe that will change as they consider the profits to be made in exploiting the data they hold, and could hold.

No person is going to listen to Siri or Alexa (but you know that). Instead, software created to listen for keywords will be used. There are hundreds of published papers on this topic, with academics either being funded by the big tech companies or their employees being co-authors. In the introduction to the very first paper that I opened in response to your post I find this:

“We are interested in enabling users to have a fully hands-free experience by developing a system that listens continuously for specific keywords”. https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//pubs/archive/42537.pdf

Once the software is listening for keywords to assist the device’s owner get their question (or whatever) to their device in a easier and more reliable way, it is a tiny technological step to then store that data and analyse it for whatever purposes the company wants.

Initially, such data will be used for targeted advertising of course. Beyond that, the possibilities are boundless, restricted only by imagination &/or governmental regulation (or their request for data).

All imo, of course.

Of course that report is correct. Without listening to keywords, 'Hey Google' or 'Alexa' would be impossible. The kind of snooping at the worst end of the scale is already possible as we enter thousands of searches every year on both mobile and pc platforms. I hope ai will turn out to be of benefit to humanity, but I accept it could go the other way.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Of course that report is correct. Without listening to keywords, 'Hey Google' or 'Alexa' would be impossible. The kind of snooping at the worst end of the scale is already possible as we enter thousands of searches every year on both mobile and pc platforms. I hope ai will turn out to be of benefit to humanity, but I accept it could go the other way.

Fair point.

I think the difference that the voice assistants bring is that the pre-existing technologies require the user to type something, thus requiring a specific, active decision to do so. The voice ones, if in constant listening mode, require the user to b conscious of what they are saying at all times if they wish to protect their privacy.

I think that AI has the potential to be enormously beneficial too. I perhaps just don’t trust the big tech companies with my data quite as much as you? Quarterly financial reporting to NASDAQ or NYSE creates enormous pressures on senior executives to, ummm, be flexible with ethics and morals, especially in new areas where there hasn’t been time for acceptable behaviours to be established.

The pace of technological advancement far outstrips the pace of ethical practice development. Society is playing a game of constant catchup with scientists, academics, and business people who are focused on either pushing the technological boundaries or profit, and rather less focused on philosophy. In an unrelated field, I see that we now have cloned monkeys... I’m not suggesting that we’ll clone humans for a child (hopefully that is clear enough that we really shouldn’t), but what about cloned foetuses for stem cell harvesting to treat an existing child, with no risk of rejection?

Society has some massive ethical debates to undertake, including on privacy. I see little evidence that our politicians are up for the task, or even, in most cases, understand the magnitude of what is coming.

 

[pearl]

Don't argue, she'll only hold it against you. She has a longer memory than yours.