alt Hacker NewsAmazon did exactly this with Alexa skills and it hasn’t exactly been a booming success. Turns out that all of the things you listed as examples are stuff that most consumers don’t actually want or will use.
“AI as a chat bot” has always been cool and fun in sci-fi movies, but it’s the least imaginative real world use for it. We need to move past it.
> $ Siri 'List the files in this folder'
Why in the world would I ever use this instead of just ‘ls’?
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Alexa's big issue for me was that you had to remember very specific commands and unless you remembered the exact syntax you were out of luck. I genuinely think if the AI had been better and had been able to interpret commands better, skills would have been infinitely more useful.
Amazon and I guess Siri's original design was completely undiscoverable. Both had limited vocabulary and actions you could take. I had to learn from others what I could even ask the devices. Also both were audio only and for things like, "turn on the lights" that required talking to cheap 3rd party devices that barely stay connected, it was frustrating.
Instead of quickly iterating to find how to take voice to the next level, both projects quickly locked in on whatever that was and became too costly to pivot.
Granny: "cobolcomesback, what's that command I have to write in this black box thingee to list all the files in this folder"
cobolcomesback: "ls, granny"
Granny: "it said No such file or directory"
cobolcomesback: "no, that's... just write ls, granny.
Granny: "I wrote ls granny it said no such file or directory."
cobolcomesback: "just.. from now on... just write Siri 'list all files in this directory', granny"
Granny: "I wrote siri list all files in this directory granny and it told me all the files and then it also asked me who's granny and I told it and it said nice to meet you"
cobolcomesback: "SIGH"
The problem with Alexa is that by the time it appeared anywhere other than Echo devices, it was already deeply enshittified. Siri is in your pocket, on your wrist, and in your ears. Alexa was stuck on your kitchen counter asking you if you wanted to try Amazon Music.
distribution. MacBooks are everywhere and already used by devs
> Turns out that all of the things you listed as examples are stuff that most consumers don’t actually want or will use.
The thing that nobody really realized is that setup is a big factor that isn't worth to a lot of people. For example, to turn off lights with Alexa, you have to do a whole bunch of setup that involves installing special lights, installing app, connecting the app to Alexa. Even though relatively this is simple, its just not worth the effort to a lot of people.
Amazon or Apple could easily overcome this by offering Alexa or Siri connected devices as incentive to builders building houses or apartments. That way, when you plug in Alexa in your new apartment, it can auto detect everything it can control including lights, thermostat appliances, e.t.c.
> Turns out that all of the things you listed as examples are stuff that most consumers don’t actually want or will use.
I've never understood this obsession with trying to invent the talking ship computer from Star Trek TNG. The purpose of the talking computer in the series was not to be a "cool 24th century technology advancement". It was a plot device to keep the story going and explain things to the audience. Having a voice conversation with a computer is terrible, imprecise, plodding UX. It's not a good interface, it's not a good invention, it's not good technology. Yet $billions are being spent to try to invent it.