How the descendants of Siri and Alexa could change our daily lives, our thoughts, and our relationships.
IN THE COMING DECADES, artificial intelligence will replace a lot of human jobs, from driving trucks to analyzing X-rays. But it will also work with us, taking over mundane personal tasks and enhancing our cognitive capabilities. As AI continues to improve, digital assistants— often in the form of disembodied voices—will become our helpers and collaborators, managing our schedules, guiding us through decisions, and making us better at our jobs. We’ll have something akin to Samantha from the movie Her or Jarvis from Iron Man: AI “agents” that know our likes and dislikes, and that free us up to focus on what humans do best, or what we most enjoy. Here’s what to expect.
1. A Voice in Your Head
Anyone who’s used Siri (on Apple products) or Alexa (on Amazon Echo) has already spoken with a digital assistant. In the future, such “conversational platforms” will be our primary means of interacting with AI, according to Kun Jing, who oversees a digital assistant called Duer for the Chinese search engine Baidu. The big tech companies are racing to create the one agent to rule them all: In addition to Siri, Alexa, and Duer, there’s Microsoft’s Cortana, Facebook’s M, and Google Assistant. Even Mattel is getting in on the action: It recently announced Aristotle, a voice- controlled AI device that can soothe babies, read bedtime stories, and tutor older kids.
These voice systems might eventually go from something you talk to on a device to something that’s in your head. Numerous companies—including Sony and Apple—have developed wireless earbuds with micro phones, so your virtual helper might be able to coach you on dates and interviews or discreetly remind you to take your meds.
This story is from the March 2017 edition of The Atlantic.
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This story is from the March 2017 edition of The Atlantic.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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