Digital assistants just took a big step toward real ‘human’ conversation

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Talking to Alexa is too often a one-sided affair. Certainly, the primary purpose of a digital assistant is to listen, but its responses tend to favor cold efficiency — get in and get out. If a human spoke to you the same way, you’d think they were being passive aggressive in order to get you to shut up and leave them alone.

While this dynamic makes sense from a utilitarian perspective, it runs counter to the stated goals of all digital assistants (Siri, Google Assistant, and the rest) — that being conversational language. 

To really take their usefulness to the next level, digital assistants need to understand more than just words. They have to take into account context and even the mood or personality of the speaker. Read more…

More about Microsoft, Xiaomi, Cortana, Alexa, and Google Assistant