Danielle O’Malley
Alexa
In 2017 amazon released a new device called “Alexa” that was essentially a speaker with AI technology that allowed it to follow commands just like apple’s Siri function. Alexas gained mass popularity. I personally have one in my dorm as well as at home. Amazon plans to continue innovating this technology to expand its purposes. Other companies have also noticed the popularity of the device and have began introducing the Alexa technology to other popular devices that could be controlled by such a medium. Things such as toilets, refrigerators, microwaves, clocks, TVs, etc.
The improvement for everyday life this kind of technology would induce are clear. This voice powered system is easier to use for everyone, especially disabled people. This tech could ease everyday struggles for disabled people as the voice activated tech is easy to use for the blind, crippled, and bedridden. Also, this increases convenience the average person. Voice command makes completing little tasks much easier. Devices such as the alex fridge would make life easier or some because “there's a certain logic to having a smart-powered fridge - being able to add things to a shopping list, order food directly from it when something is getting low or even have your refrigerator help you with recipes.”(The Best New Alexa Devices,Adrian Willings and Rik Henderson). However, these devices have negative impacts as well. When the Alexa first came out there was a lot of suspicion around just how well the device could listen. Users would find that when they would speak about a product in the same room as an alexa they would frequently see ads pop up for the specific product. This chilling discovery could be detrimental when expanding technology. This threatens privacy and will definitely make customers think twice before installing this device around the relaxed environment of their home.
5 comments:
work cited: Pocket-lint. “The Best New Alexa Devices: AI-Powered TVs, Fridges, Mirrors and More.” Pocket, 14 Jan. 2019, www.pocket-lint.com/smart-home/news/143246-the-best-new-alexa-devices-ai-powered-tvs-fridges-mirrors-and-more.
Palmer., Shelly, and Shelly Palmer. “Just How Dangerous Is Alexa?” Ad Age, 3 Jan. 2017, adage.com/article/digitalnext/amazon-alexa-dangerous/307328/.
I liked how your article described the many practical uses of Alexa and how it can expand to other areas in the future. I definitely think that in the future, this kind of voice-activated technology will be interconnected with all of the devices in our homes. It will be able to control everything from the TV, refrigerator, and lights. This can be very beneficial and make our lives easier, especially for the disabled as you mentioned: “This tech could ease everyday struggles for disabled people as the voice activated tech is easy to use for the blind, crippled, and bedridden”. However, I also believe that it will be dangerous to allow Amazon to gain control of all of the devices in our home. I believe Amazon is already on a trajectory to grow exponentially. It already has at a remarkable pace in recent years. It went from merely an online retailer to a company that manufactures thousands of products itself and produces movies and television shows. Allowing them to control all of the products in our homes will only allow them to grow in power. As the article “Amazon is Trying to Control the Underlying Infrastructure of Our Economy” states: “Companies that want to reach the market increasingly have no choice but to ride Amazon's rails. With Prime and digital assistant Alexa, from GE appliances to Ford cars, Bezos has lured a majority of households into making Amazon the default provider of everything they order online”. By making the Echo to be the default smart speaker for consumers, they can have a lot of control over which other products are compatible with Alexa. This allows them to have a hold on many industries. I don’t think this is necessarily a good thing because it will make Amazon too powerful. Therefore, it’s important that more competitors of the Echo become more popular. Otherwise, Amazon could easily soon have control of our homes.
Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7xpm5g/jeff-bezos-went-grocery-shopping-bought-whole-foods
Being an owner of two Alexa Echo Dots as well (one in my dorm and the other at home), I definitely understand how helpful this device can be to all people. At first, I was a little skeptical about Alexa’s capabilities to hear into conversations after my friends shared their stories of times she had done so without their knowledge. Then, I came to the realization that she is not the only one who can do this, as our phones and other devices certainly take our conversations into account for business purposes, such as advertisements. Regardless, I still believe that Alexa is a very helpful tool as she can be used as an alarm, personal trainer, play music, send messages, call family/friends etc. As you mentioned, this tool can be helpful to disabled people as it can make things move a lot quicker and easier for them in the long-run. The Amazon device is also easy to use and can help people of all ages, including senior citizens. For example, my grandmother's Alexa has been programmed to turn on/off the lights, play music, announce incoming calls, place calls to her family, and play games. So, in some ways Alexa can also serve as a companion for those who are in need. Additionally, it can certainly be a helpful tool to have her help with things in the kitchen, such as the smart-fridge you mentioned. Perhaps, one day she may even make suggestions to buying healthier foods to put in people’s fridges.
Amazon revolutionized the smart speaker market in 2017 with the introduction of the Echo speakers and Alexa. Vastly improving on the voice control capabilities of Apple’s competing Siri, the Echo package brought AI digital assistants to the home. The first few that I was able to play around with blew me away. The responsiveness, accuracy, range of functions and clarity of the voice was truly impressive. It did not feel like talking with a person, but significantly more so than Siri, which can sometimes feel like all responses are prerecorded. While I usually welcome new, smarter technologies, the smart speaker trend gives me a sense of unease.
For some reason, the idea of a device whose entire purpose is to listen to everything you say, sold by an all-powerful company who controls the greatest direct to consumer channel of all time, seems like invasion of privacy packaged up as a device. As the original post mentions, it is probably not coincidence that talking about needing a product results in that product being directly marketed to you after. While I pay no moment to the data Google stores every time I use Chrome and YouTube or Spotify saves when I listen, the idea of purchasing a listening speaker that gives Amazon a direct view into my home is not one I enjoy.
This may be more due to the device’s affiliation with Amazon than the fact it listens silently all the time. Despite my negative stance, the applications for smart speakers for the disabled are immense. The Alexa interface is user friendly and the expanding functionality should appeal ever increasingly to the blind, crippled and bedridden. For this final reason alone, the digital assistant speaker has been a great invention, but marketing it as a must have for the masses is Amazon’s trojan horse into the home. I will not be purchasing one soon.
I use Alexa at home and it really works well as a handy assistant who can do minuscule tasks. At home, we use it all the time to turn on/off the lights, play music, change the thermostat, and schedule any reservations I need to be done. Every time I have to buy something off of Amazon that I have bought before, all I have to do is ask Alexa. My convenience has increased a lot. Just imagine what consumers who know how to code and program Alexa can do!
Beyond the average consumer, this tech will definitely help the disabled. For example, people who are quadriplegic and have to be in bed all day, Alexa has made it easier for them to do things without relying on other people. For those who are blind and can’t read, Alexa can report important information and news that they need to know. There is also an option called Ask My Buddy. It let’s you tell Alexa to contact a loved one. If and when anybody needs help, say “Alexa, ask my buddy to send help” and your contacts will receive alerts.
It’s true that Alexa has made life a lot more convenient, but like every other piece of technology, there will always be flaws people pick at. In this case, it is privacy. Just a couple of months ago in December 2018, a German man in December 2018 asked to listen to his own audio history and was accidentally sent 1700 audio files from a person he did not know! Obviously, this is a case of human error, but Amazon hasn’t come out with how many times users have improperly been granted access to another person’s recordings. If you care about this, there is an option to The option to have Alexa always listening to you is set on default. You can easily turn this off by clicking off at the button next to your name under “Use Messages to Improve Transcriptions.” People are still skeptical saying that they believe Alexa is still listening. If Amazon doesn’t want their paranoid consumers to wither away, I believe that Amazon should take into consideration of this issue moving forward.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/what-is-amazons-alexa-and-what-can-it-do/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-alexa-privacy-recordings-germany-20181220-story.html
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