Amazon CTO, Werner Vogels
Can machines be more humane? Alexa.
It’s more than replacing TV remote while you are in kitchen.
International Rice Research Institute reduces fertilizer usage by 90%, only with voice operated phone lines. “Farmers [in southeast Asia] do not use computers. Some cannot even read or write. No smartphones… One phone shared in a village.” Shared Werner, in his classic techy t-shirt outfit but with humane touch.
Voice unlocks digital systems for everyone. Alexa?
Interface between human and machine migrated from green screen, keyboard, GUI, web and mobile devices (machine centric) to voice (human centric). As much service offered by machines, a voice operated interface unlocks computing power to various scenarios: in the kitchen, while driving, in the work place etc. Wynn resorts hotels have been equipped with Alexa, if you haven’t experienced.
Moreover, Alexa beats many of us on patience and consistency. Citing a patient with dementia, “[Alexa] has afforded me something that I have lost. Memory. I can ask Alexia anything and I get the answer instantly. And I can ask it what day it is twenty times a day and I will get the same correct answer.”
What if I want to build my own voice experience? Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers “machine learning for everyone” tools, like Amazon Polly, Amazon Transcribe, to name a few.
“Voice represents next disruption in computing systems”, Werner’s closing won a round of applause of some 400+ audience.
