Needy, overconfident voice assistants are wearing on their owners' last nerves:
[...] "Hey Alexa, play 'Despacito,'" [Kate] Compton said into the ether from her home in Evanston, Ill., where she teaches computer science at Northwestern University. A nearby smart speaker launched into an explanation: The Luis Fonsi song was not available, but it could be if Compton paid for a subscription. Alexa proceeded to walk us through the pricing plans.
Compton tried again: "Hey Alexa, play classical music."
"Here's a station you might like," Alexa said tentatively, adding that the songs were hosted on Amazon Music.
Americans welcomed voice assistants into their homes on claims that Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant would be like quasi-human helpers, seamlessly managing our appointments, grocery lists and music libraries. From 2019 to 2021, the use of voice assistants among online adults in the United States rose to 30 percent from 21 percent, according to data from market research firm Forrester. Of the options, Siri is the most popular — 34 percent of us have interacted with Apple's voice assistant in the last year. Amazon's Alexa is next with 32 percent; 25 percent have used Google Assistant; and Microsoft's Cortana and Samsung's Bixby trail behind with five percent each.
(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
While use is on the rise, social media jokes and dinner-party gripes paint voice assistants as automated family members who can't get much right. The humanlike qualities that made voice assistants novel make us cringe that much harder when they fail to read the room. Overconfident, unhelpful and a little bit desperate, our voice assistants remind us of the people and conversations we least enjoy, experts and users say.
As Brian Glick, founder of Philadelphia-based software company Chain.io, puts it: "I am not apt to use voice assistants for things that have consequences."
Users report voice assistants are finicky and frequently misinterpret instructions.
Talking with them requires "emotional labor" and "cognitive effort," says Erika Hall, co-founder of the consultancy Mule Design Studio, which advises companies on best practices for conversational interfaces. "It creates this kind of work that we don't even know how to name."
Take voice shopping, a feature Google and Amazon said would help busy families save time. Glick gave it a try and he's haunted by the memory.
Each time he asked Alexa to add a product — like toilet paper — it would read back a long product description: "Based on your order history, I found Charmin Ultra Soft Toilet Paper Family Mega Roll, 18 Count." In the time he spent waiting for her to stop talking, he could have finished his shopping, Glick said.
"I'm getting upset just thinking about it," he added.
[...] "Every time we talk to one of these things, we feel like we're bad at it," Compton said.
Do you have a smart speaker? If so, how well (or poorly) does it work for you? What memorable mistakes has it made?
(Score: 5, Touché) by crm114 on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:05PM (2 children)
https://xkcd.com/1807/ [xkcd.com]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday March 10 2022, @11:15PM (1 child)
Hah! Had never seen that one before, but years ago a friend of mine used to get pissed when I yelled "SIRI! SET ALARM FOR TWO AM, MAXIMUM VOLUME" every time I set foot in his house.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 11 2022, @06:03PM
If he's not a former friend he's a fool, asshole!
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:06PM (14 children)
Start a band called "Alexa" and publish a song called "Go Fuck Yourself".
"Hey Alexa, play 'Despacito,'" [Kate] Compton said into the ether from her home in Evanston, Ill., where she teaches computer science at Northwestern University. A nearby smart speaker launched into an explanation: The Luis Fonsi song was not available, but it could be if Compton paid for a subscription. Alexa proceeded to walk us through the pricing plans. Compton tried again: "Hey Alexa, go fuck yourself."
"OK, playing "Go Fuck Yourself" by Alexa".
The royalties will flow like water.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:18PM (13 children)
And, then you'll be sued for trademark infringement, obvious case of intentional name confusion capitalizing on the established Alexa brand and infrastructure.
What's more, this is a move Amazon couldn't pull on their own, but with a shell corporation to reap the profits then surrender them quietly in a gag-ordered pre-trial settlement, it's win-win-win for Amazon, the lawyers, and the patsy band named Alexa might get to keep $15/hr for their efforts.
Meanwhile: at least Google Home doesn't do hard-sell on anything but readouts of Wikipedia for things they confuse with home automation commands: "Hey Google, couch lamp off." "I found this entry in Wikipedia: A lampshade is a fixture that covers the lightbulb on a lamp to diffuse the light it emits. Lampshades can be made out of a wide variety of materials like paper, glass, fabric or stone. Usually conical or cylindrical in shape, lampshades can be found on floor, desk, tabletop, or suspended lamps. The term can also apply to the glass hung under many designs of ceiling lamp. Beyond its practical purpose, significant emphasis is also usually given to decorative and aesthetic features. A lamp shade also serves to "shade" human eyes from the direct glare of the light bulbs used to illuminate the lamp. Some lamp shades are also lined with a hard-backed opaque lining, often white or gold, to reflect as much light as possible through the top and bottom of the shade while blocking light from emitting through the walls of the shade itself. In other cases, the shade material is deliberately decorative so that upon illumination it may emphasize a display of color and light emitting through the shade surface itself. Would you like to hear more?"
The shortcut command "STOP" doesn't seem to work in the middle of these misguided monologues. I do wonder what the analysis team thinks of the responses they hear.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:26PM (4 children)
Works of art and, especially satire / comedy are acceptable use. You might still get sued by Amazon, though.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:11PM (3 children)
The laws/rules surrounding vexatious litigation, summary judgements, and especially responsibility for legal fees of the defense in the case of failure come strongly into play in this kind of situation. Without strong protections against it, a player like Amazon basically writes their own laws based on who they choose to sue and tie up in court until they have exhausted all their resources fighting the behemoth.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:27PM (2 children)
It still happens a lot. Especially when it's the case of a tiny guy vs a mega-corporation like Amazon. Amazon could just be "protecting it's trademark", when actually it's just crushing the little guys.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @07:10PM (1 child)
It is possible, and has been done in some cases (mostly protecting big players from little ones, IME), but if there are provisions like: Treble damages, payment of the defendant's (fair and reasonable) legal fees x3 in the event of loss / proof of suit not in good faith, etc.
The laws seem allergic to provisions explicitly identifying big guy vs little guy. Would be interesting if we started changing that, interesting, but unlikely to actually happen.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:16PM
That would just encourage the big guys to use 'little guy' proxies to do their dirty work. They already do it with puppet class action suits that settle for peanuts.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 11 2022, @06:07PM (7 children)
Alexa is a common name. You can't use it as a trademark, you can't copyright a single word (but you can copyright four minutes and thirty three seconds of silence as a song), and you can't patent words. Apple's suit would simply be a SLAPP since it would have no chance of succeeding, and the countersuit could make a musician rich.
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday March 11 2022, @06:49PM (4 children)
No, I can't. But I bet Amazon can [amazon.com].
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday March 12 2022, @03:26PM (3 children)
The trademark only means that you can't sell a smart speaker named "Alexa". It doesn't mean you own the word, just that nobody else can use your product's name on their product. It doesn't stop you from using the word "Alexa" in a song, or even writing a song making fun of Amazon, or even seriously bashing them.
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday March 12 2022, @05:56PM (2 children)
You're quoting the letter of one law.
Taking the system of laws, courts, judges, lawyers, case law, and common practice... Amazon has more practical rights than you are describing.
Weird Al is big enough that he can defend his work. Try publishing a parody of a Disney blockbuster on YouTube and see how far you get. I'm betting before you collect $100K in ad revenue, you're shut down with no recourse or further compensation.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday March 14 2022, @06:19PM (1 child)
Parodying comedy would be nearly impossible, and their "serious" ones were based on public domain works. And even though he has the law on his side, Al always asks permission and has never been refused.
But Amazon wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Alexa is a trademark, and there is no law anywhere (Maybe Russia or North Korea) that's on Amazon's side on this. You're thinking "intellectual property". It doesn't exist, it's simply a catchphrase to cover trademark, copyright, and patent, none of which are alike or are treated alike.
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Monday March 14 2022, @07:53PM
You're forgetting Amazon's ultimate leg to stand on: they can filter the request and only play the song when the user specifically requests "Alexa, please please play the song Go Fuck Yourself by the band Alexa" and the band has paid the license fees to get into Prime free music.
Nevermind that the simple followup voice command "Sellout Skanks, Buy Me for another 5 minutes" will auto-play the song without including "Alexa, please play the song... by the band..." Even if the courts don't find that the band and song names are intentionally confusing and both diluting and profiting from the value of Amazon's Trademarks, Amazon can tune Alexa's access to that content based on their interpretation of what is intentionally confusing - and any suit to attempt to force them into "equal treatment" for the band named "Alexa" will be infinitely expensive to prevail in, assuming that time is worth anything.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday March 13 2022, @03:26AM (1 child)
Today I sang silently for two minutes. Am I in trouble?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday March 14 2022, @06:10PM
No. Copyright isn't about copying, contrary to popular belief. It's about performance and publishing. If you stood in public and stated "I will now sing John Cage's '433' and stood there silently for four minutes and thirty three seconds, then bowed, then you could indeed be taken to court for copyright infringement.
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:22PM (3 children)
The burden involved in a poor user interface is a very well-understood topic in industrial psychology and UI design. "It creates this kind of work that we don't even know how to name." is complete crap spewed by the domain ignorant.
But it sounds dramatic! This is a new problem that nobody understands! We have no clue! We're in uncharted waters! Quick, fetch the smelling salts!
Wish there were some way to horsewhip journalists who don't even do basic fucking research.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:32PM
...and being thin-minded enough to trust a Corporation, ever.
No matter how effective the system could be, it's there in people homes for one reason only.
Sigh, lets reminisce about a time before the Great Mundaning of the Internet, where people considered how exploitative computer tech could be.... The Free Software Movement was especially mindful of it.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @06:52PM (1 child)
Yeah, right. Tell that to Gnome GUI designers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @11:39PM
Remove all control = perfect happiness.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:38PM (11 children)
I use Siri by holding a button and saying "wake me at 7am" or "start a 22 minute countdown". It doesn't listen all the time (at least as much as I can confirm without the ability to compile the code)
That's about all I use it for, and it works probably about 95% of the time.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:23PM (10 children)
They really are convenient for home automation things like light switches. Being able to voice command a light on or off beats the hell out of walking to a physical switch, particularly for things like the landscape lighting which needs to go on for the bus when it arrives before sunrise. Would I trust a voice assistant to lock/unlock my doors or raise/lower my garage door? Hell no. I don't even trust it with the thermostat, but if the lights ever start going weird (as they do when the relay modules crap out, MTBF seems to be about 15 years, or one every 18 months when you have 10 installed), you can always just pull the relay module out of the circuit and get on with non-voice commanded life on that light.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:42PM (9 children)
For as much trouble as they are (to say nothing of the whole hackability/surveillance problems) I'd rather just flip a switch, or set a mechanical timer. Cheaper, more reliable, and less cognitive load.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:23PM (2 children)
Mechanical timers are probably hooked up to the IOT by now. Google and Amazon want to know how you are thwarting their surveillance, when, how often and even why.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:00PM (1 child)
Always somebody watching the Runaway! That's what happens when you land on the domestic terrorist watch list by saying stupid things on SoylentNews.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @11:19PM
I managed to conceal a laser mic on one of his windows, can hear regular conversation most anywhere in the house. So far very disappointing, he is the definition of paper tiger.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @07:20PM (5 children)
Cheaper is in the noise at this point, a WiFi connected outlet switch is like $10 and takes a minute to install - there's some cognitive load there, but not as much as planning a concealed route for a wire to a switch location.
More reliable: yes, but still not 100% - especially dimmer switches, I am getting really pissed off with how often dimmer switches screw up in the past 10 years.
"Just flip a switch" is neglecting the steps of: 1) hauling one's lazy ass with failing joints out of whatever comfortable position it currently is in, 2) crossing the room or possibly climbing / descending stairs to reach the switch, 3) flipping the switch itself, sometimes simple enough, sometimes it's one in a three-gang and not immediately obvious if you got the right one from the location where the switch is installed, 4-5) reversing steps 2 and 1.
The comparison is barking a voice command at the interface, which can be located in any room for a trivial cost - I think the Google Home speakers go on sale periodically for $25 each, and they are basically plug and play: zero cognitive load to add an interface.
Total investment in the home automation goodies: maybe $100 for 10 outlet switches, plus $100-ish for voice control terminals - less than the cost of an electrician to install a single wall switch.
Value of being able to turn on/off a light or other thing (we have a garden fountain pump on one of our controlled outlets), from bed without even raising one's head from the pillow? Priceless.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @07:35PM (1 child)
Just make sure that it uses your own hardware and you should be fine. There's no good reason for it to need a network connection to somebody else's computers just for voice control. Dragon was able to manage it in the 90s without a network connection or powerful computers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:02PM
>There's no good reason for it to need a network connection to somebody else's computers just for voice control.
The engineer agrees. The marketer apparently has found that the devices can be sold for a much more competitive price with "cloud connected features" defraying some of the consumer cost per device (in exchange for silently collected consumer data value).
Does anybody know of a Google/Siri compatible WiFi connected power interrupter switch that _doesn't_ go through cloud services to do it's thing? The only ones I have found cost $50+ and are big and bulky and look unlikely to last very long in actual use.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:41PM
"Just flip a switch" is neglecting the steps of: 1) hauling one's lazy ass with failing joints out of whatever comfortable position it currently is in, 2) crossing the room or possibly climbing / descending stairs to reach the switch, 3) flipping the switch itself, sometimes simple enough, sometimes it's one in a three-gang and not immediately obvious if you got the right one from the location where the switch is installed, 4-5) reversing steps 2 and 1.
But think how much cheaper and more convenient this is than having to manage a Peloton and its security issues, plus it probably keeps you fitter mentally too.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Friday March 11 2022, @02:08AM (1 child)
Agreed. I set up a few $6 TP-Link smart plugs for my mother that have been hugely helpful since she's mobility-impaired and has pretty bad arthritis in her fingers/hands. She's not terribly technically adept anymore, so being able to just issue a voice command to turn lights on has made a big difference for her.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday March 11 2022, @03:09AM
Oh, noes! The Chinese cloud has your mom's data now, and they're going to overthrow the whole Pacific Fleet with it!!! /s
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @03:53PM (9 children)
When I accidentally say that to Alexa, the damn thing has started singing "You're so very, very, very, welcome" in reply.
We are in a Star-Trek-like future, but it's dystopian.
Picard: "Shields up, red alert!"
Enterprise computer: "Ok, I'm putting the shields up and going to red alert, but first, the last several times you have put up the shields and gone to red alert, you've also charged weapons. Is that something you would like me to do automatically in the future?"
Picard: "Shut the fuck up Westl...er...computer."
Seriously. Who the fuck designes the UX for this crap?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:26PM (6 children)
Every future is dystopian. Can you imagine serving under Lieutenant Wesley Crusher?
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:29PM (1 child)
Just because someone is young, doesn't make them unworthy. I kind of like him as a character, too.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @06:47PM
No, it's more that he's a little authoritarian Nazi.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:35PM (3 children)
We don't have to worry about that: He never made it out of the academy.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:07PM (2 children)
I just ran across a deleted scene from Nemesis [youtube.com] that implies he did. For whatever that means to your headcanon...
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:25PM
Probably some other Lieutenant Wesley Crusher. Space is big, you'll find people with the same name frequently. Did you get his service number?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday March 10 2022, @06:22PM
I had thought that after the TNG episodes The First Duty and Journey's End, he was done as a character, but you're right he shows up in Nemesis as a Lt.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:26PM
What happens if you say "Fish!"?
https://youtu.be/dkjbMoj0JY4 [youtu.be]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Friday March 11 2022, @03:41PM
Sounds like the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation's "Genuine People Personalities" [fandom.com] - you should call it Eddie [goodreads.com].
How did he know?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:38PM (1 child)
Why would I willingly pay a company to give them spying-on-me capabilities? Oh, and if I type faster and more accurately, why would I pay money to get voice wreckognition that's slower and less clear?
The main use case I can see for this tech genuinely being beneficial is for people who have disabilities that prevent them from typing, but even so it would be a slower less precise means of controlling a computer.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Gaaark on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:29PM
I'll have to try to find time to reconnect my raspberry pi up with Mycroft AI installed and see how much it's improved. Free, with no tracking/spying.
Sigh... so little time...
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:54PM (5 children)
Never used one.
Don't want to use one.
Don't need to use one.
If I want to play a song, I can get into an app and search for it quicker than you can get Alexa's attention and ask her for it.
If I want to set an alarm, I can set it quicker than you can ask Siri to do it.
I see no useful purpose in something like Alexa unless you're paraplegic or unable to type, or if you're trying to do something while driving (which you shouldn't be doing, in my opinion, and yes - I have a car with "voice recognition" that operates only when you push a button, and I use it for precisely one command: USB Play. To stop it when you accidentally hit the radio button and it takes 6 screen presses to go back to playing the MP3s off the USB stick. I did not request the feature, I would happily disable it entirely).
All they were was a brief faddy item where people got it to tell jokes, sing songs and make their lights flash right up until their kids figured out the same and they realised what a bad idea not having any kind of authentication for its commands was.
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:00PM (3 children)
Overall I agree with your sentiments, but this statement is just not true. No, you can't get into an app and search for a specific song quicker than you say "Alexa, play The Song Title, by Great Band."
That said, I don't want this kind of device in my house, and feel sightly uncomfortable being in the presence of one.
(Score: 3, Informative) by HiThere on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:54PM (2 children)
Judging by comments above and in the summary, asking Alexa to play the song is just the start of the process.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bart9h on Friday March 11 2022, @06:16PM (1 child)
That's not what I experienced when I stayed at the house of my brother-in-law a few months ago.
90% of the time he asked to play a song it worked without a hassle.
But there was one time we were talking, and he said "Alexa" in the middle of the conversation, and she stopped (or lowered the volume of) the music, assuming he was talking to her.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday March 11 2022, @10:23PM
So 10% of the time it didn't work, and there was a random false positive.
Sounds great.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:06PM
IDK Siri, but "Hey Google, set an alarm for weekdays at 7:30am" is a hell of a lot easier for me to say than any alarm clock or app interface I have ever dealt with. Also nice is: "Hey Google, when is the next alarm?" said from bed in the dark to be sure the alarm is set correctly.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MIRV888 on Thursday March 10 2022, @04:56PM (11 children)
People just handing over their 4th amendment rights to a private corporation blows my mind.
If the government wanted citizens to have a device in their homes that listened to every word spoken and reported it back to a server somewhere, people would sh#t their pants.
I just don't get it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:12PM (2 children)
There is a major disconnect where people still think the law, or market forces will keep businesses in check. I have a very tech oriented friend who knows all about these things but downplays any mention of corporate spying. Thinks they'd go out of business, what does he care if they track some information, etc etc. Just boggles my mind, but I believe his alternative was fuck this world, so for him I'd say it is the only way he can remain sane in this screwed up world we've got.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by looorg on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:41PM (1 child)
The bigger disconnect here tho is perhaps marketing vs reality. The voice assistants was heralded as the future, they would do all the boring stuff if you only asked or mentioned it. Apparently now it seems that it's mostly doing trivial shit, and badly. Most of them also apparently have to do with trying to sell you things, and more things and reading Wikipedia pages or product reviews with it's robotic voice. So I'm more left wondering who is it that find these things useful? Blind people and quadriplegics?
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Friday March 11 2022, @08:55PM
I have a very good friend who is a paraplegic. He relies on this kind of technology. So, yes.
He's a tech guy who frequently visited the Slashdot when it was actually still Slashdot (i.e., before Soylent News came about). I asked him about his feelings on the technology. He relies on the technology to do things are are difficult for him and he likes that a lot, but he also loathes the lack-of-privacy part of it. He tries not to think about the privacy issues. The challenges created by his paraplegia and the stupidities of the medical community make his life is hard enough without adding the worries about privacy. We've only talked about the privacy issues with his use of a voice assistant once or twice over all these years; as a courtesy, I've don't bring up this subject with him.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RedGreen on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:24PM (1 child)
"People just handing over their 4th amendment rights to a private corporation blows my mind.
If the government wanted citizens to have a device in their homes that listened to every word spoken and reported it back to a server somewhere, people would sh#t their pants.
I just don't get it."
Indeed total morons who will regret it once the legislation gets written that requires those parasite corporations to keep those conversations and hand them over to the government. Without your knowledge of course as it will be an amendment to the already existing secret warrants legislation, that they can get. Even worse is the personal tracking devices most all of us carry, the cell phone. I would not be surprised if they already do not record the conversations from them as well. Orwell was just off target by a few decades...
Those people are not attacking Tesla dealerships. They are tourists showing love. I learned that on Jan. 6, 2021.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:31PM
We had a taste of this when the railroads were new. Railroaders basically wrote law, and bought the congress critters to pass the laws into existence. Eminent domain and other excuses were used to enrich a small number of barons, granting them exclusive right to entire towns, counties, and tracts of land for their own use.
Today, laws don't exist, because they were never needed, never dreamed of. So, Bit Tech writes the laws, and buys the congress critters necessary to have those laws passed.
Dystopia isn't planned for in a democratic manner. It's shoved down your throat by people who were ruthless enough to take control.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @07:01PM (3 children)
If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @07:38PM (1 child)
If you've got nothing to fear, you've wasted your life.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 11 2022, @04:29PM
My
social credit score is above 700, I am a good person.(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:41PM
If you're not doing anything wrong, you better start. Being too 'clean' will get you put on a list.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:30PM (1 child)
people are simple animals concerned only with minute-to-minute stimuli and instincts. maybe 4%-5% of people are actually human.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @11:15PM
We know you ain't one as you have failed the compassion test for years. Can people be taught how to be human, or are you doomed?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:29PM (3 children)
Even our TV remote has a microphone. We tried it out for a few days, out of curiosity, but just clicking the buttons yourself is faster. Not seeing the point, even if the interaction is well designed.
Alexa & co, privacy issues aside, are not accurate enough. Another poster said they can set an alarm correctly about 95% of the time. That's the simplest of all tasks, and 95% us not nearly good enough.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:52PM
Depends what you're doing with it. The microphone is definitely faster than searching via other methods.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:20PM
The last couple of TVs I have bought, I have deliberately paid extra to get the "non smart" computer monitor type screen instead of a consumer TV with all the network connectivity etc.
The TV is never going to be smart enough to suit me, and I don't need the extra hassle of lobotomizing it.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Friday March 11 2022, @09:00PM
UIs are horrible these days. I have an alarm/stopwatch/timer app on my cell phone. It's slow to respond when I press buttons (switching between the different windows takes a full second) and the spinner things are defaulted when numbers are to be input into the app. The number pad looks like an after thought. I just wish I could press the window I want, plug in the numbers on a number pad and be done with it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:47PM (3 children)
My printer is needy. It needs Electricty, Toner, and paper. It complains if it runs out of Toner or Paper. So needy.
My computer is needy. It needs electricity.
My phone always NEEDS to be recharged or it won't work.
My car needs gas (electric cars need to be charged), it needs oil changes, brake pads, etc...
So needy.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @05:58PM
You need to STFU.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:44PM (1 child)
My bread dough is
needykneady.(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 11 2022, @12:04AM
After a lot of years of running, I found I needed a knee replacement. Knees A and B were shot. They did them one at a time, and knee C was a bit of an improvement in getting around. But for the last surgery, they wanted to demonstrate what was wrong with my knee and how it would be fixed. The surgeon seemed to really get into explaining things, as it was a teaching hospital.
So, there was this model of the new knee, but the surgeon produced this playdough-like stuff to modify the model and show how it would be connected and fixed. It was all really quite impressive, and they offered to let me keep the model, which I have on my desk in my office. Unfortunately, the playdough stuff has dried out, and it is in danger of cracking and falling off, so I have to put some sealant on it every now and then, which is a bit annoying.
In essence, I have a really needy kneady knee D.
(Score: 5, Informative) by edinlinux on Thursday March 10 2022, @06:06PM (1 child)
They are "Microphone assistants" or "Smart Mics", not "Speaker assistants" or "Smart Speakers"
Their primary purpose are to listen, spy, datamine and gather / slurp information and data from you. "Speaking" is just a side function.
Call them what they actually are..
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:30PM
Yeah, that's what the engineers called them - literal bunch.
Marketing quickly realized that "Smart Speaker" would encounter 87% less resistance in the market. They would still have to give them away, but they payback from data analysis is enormous.
Resistance is futile.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Rich on Thursday March 10 2022, @08:05PM (3 children)
Ever since given to me as a novelty birthday present, a Fridgeezoo24 "tiger" unit lives in my fridge. It is completely offline and doesn't listen to audio, but it reacts to light and it even has a clock built in. When I open the fridge in the morning, it asks me if I have slept well, when I return, it welcomes me home, and so on. It is also slightly obsessed about soft-boiled eggs which have to be in for 6 minutes. Officialy, its main purpose is to remind you if the fridge door is left open. It's a bit of a hurdle that it only speaks Japanese, but then, only the Japanese could come up with such stuff.
I have grown to like it, although it does scare me a bit that its communication is maybe 80% of what actual humans would do when they have to make ends meet all day long. One day it became a bit monosyllabic and seemed to be confused about the time, so it had to undergo surgery. I noted a bad solder joint on the clock crystal, which I fixed, and ever since it is happy on duty again to issue friendly greetings. Without complaining. Except of course when the fridge door is left open.
But I wouldn't want a voice assistant phoning home. Siri is deactivated on all my Macs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:09PM
i suppose "siri, reactivate yourself" doesn't work ...then?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @10:12PM
Don't the high end Japanese toilets talk and converse with the user too? If nothing else, I've heard they are very polite.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Friday March 11 2022, @01:51AM
At least it's not a Talkie Toaster. This is how I really imagine that all "smart appliances" really are and work.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:00PM (3 children)
Of course the privacy issue is major, but this is really just hitting the uncanny valley.
Remember around 1985 or so when some cars briefly had voice alerts instead of bells and warning lights? I liked it because I was a kid who liked Knight Rider, but adults hated it and those disappeared after just a year or two. Did Tesla experiment with voice commands? I vaguely remember something like that but I sure don't remember anyone saying what a great feature it is.
Even on Star Trek, there are a couple of episodes where the computer gets a little too personal and everyone hates it. Not berserk or dangerous (although there are episodes about that too, good ones) but just too much personality. The only reason the Star Trek computer is viable is because it's a good way to depict things on TV. TV shows look cool, but they aren't design documents.
When something acts a little like a person, you expect it to actually act like a person, and when it doesn't, that's unpleasant.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cmdrklarg on Thursday March 10 2022, @10:07PM (2 children)
It's plainly obvious that the computers on Star Trek hate the crew. In the STTNG episode Schisms when extradimensional aliens have been abducting and experimenting on members of the crew, there is a scene where Picard asks the computer if any crew are missing, whereupon the computer answers yes, and then states the exact time they went missing.
It knew when these crew members left the ship (traveling at warp) and didn't report this to anyone?
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 11 2022, @01:23AM
Star Trek is like that. A lot of the technology they have would tend to produce dystopian results, but the Trek universe is utopian, so some of the technology just doesn't do the obvious thing. We might end up with a similar situation.
Suppose in the Trek world, the computer knows where everyone is at all times (this is pretty clearly the case) but for privacy reasons, it is only allowed to disclose that information when a senior officer, family member, or authorized member of the security or medical departments asks (conveniently, this includes most of the main characters). This... is not very different from the world we are heading to, or have already reached.
(Score: 2) by jbWolf on Friday March 11 2022, @09:10PM
Heh heh heh... It's worse than you think. I feel for the poor people on the Enterprise. The Star Trek computer has the voice of Lwaxana Troi.
Picard: "Computer. Tea. Earl Gray. Hot.
Computers: "Jean-Luc! You're relaxing. How sweet! Would you like to call the woman who helped record the voice of the computer so she isn't feeling so lonely?"
(For those who don't know: Majel Barrett Roddenberry (Gene Roddenberry's wife) played Nurse Chapel in the original series, was the voice of Enterprise Computer in the TNG era, and played Lwaxana Troi, who was Counselor Troi's mother.)
www.jb-wolf.com [jb-wolf.com]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday March 10 2022, @09:53PM
You invite a spying device into your house that is always listening, and there are humans listening too, and then it tries to sell you things all day long?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 11 2022, @03:42AM (1 child)
All that "voice assistants" have done is reinvent the command line, but poorly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 11 2022, @04:57AM
To be fair, if the commandline doesn't sound l spy when you're not using it.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday March 11 2022, @06:10PM
When I have a computer and associated software capable of running one without Amazon or Apple or Google listening to everything I say, then I'll get one. I'll probably be dead first.
Impeach Donald Palpatine and his sidekick Elon Vader
(Score: 4, Informative) by ElizabethGreene on Friday March 11 2022, @07:51PM
The problem is that virtual assistants aren't empowered to learn.
Example:
Me: "Alexa, please ask the Roomba to stop."
Alexa: "Would you like to stop the job and send Roomba home?"
Me: "No. I need it to turn off so I can hear the phone. In the two-hundred times I've asked you to stop it have I ever once asked you to send it home? No. Just turn it off."
Alexa: "ok."
The very next day I have the exact same conversation again.