This Conversation Is Going Nowhere • Hacker News Board

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#21

Post by sien » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:01 AM UTC

sago wrote: post #16

carussell wrote: post #6

I've thought for some time now that the real killer app for natural language assistants—especially voice activated assistants like Alexa, perhaps slightly less suited for text-based chatbots—lies in short, episodic, choose-your-own-adventure-style games. The more I think about it, the more I'm not really sure why this isn't a thing yet, and why we haven't seen a resurgence in the popularity of interactive fiction—alb…

There are lots of these. In fact, Amazon even has a tool for creating your own. As for regular CYOA interactive fiction, there are lots, And lots of tools for making them. Even start-ups promoting them. But so far there is no long-tail. And outside one or two successes (like "80 days" on iOS), players don't seem to be flocking to it. It's easy to say 'it will be huge', but it it doesn't seem to be even the most popul…

Wow.

This is the tool for Alexa. Fantastic.

https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/TxEQV5K754YS77/Annou...

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#22

Post by andrew311 » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:01 AM UTC

carussell wrote: post #6

I've thought for some time now that the real killer app for natural language assistants—especially voice activated assistants like Alexa, perhaps slightly less suited for text-based chatbots—lies in short, episodic, choose-your-own-adventure-style games. The more I think about it, the more I'm not really sure why this isn't a thing yet, and why we haven't seen a resurgence in the popularity of interactive fiction—alb…

Here is another company doing this:

https://www.earplay.com/

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#23

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:36 AM UTC

Cyberdog wrote: post #7

Dear people who have product blogs like this: Please put a global header on your blog that says "X is a Y that does Z." In this case, "Digit is a service that helps you automatically save money based on your income and spending." That way, we get some much-needed context when we stumble across your blog articles talking about what you've learned by building and selling your product.

Very much this.

For quite some time, the original of this was my top-rated HN comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/27d5xr/please_...

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#24

Post by resu_nimda » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:37 AM UTC

jkestelyn wrote: post #4

alexcabrera wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, regular people use websites. Regular people do not use chatbots in significant numbers

I don't disagree but how is that relevant?

Because even when websites were "bad," the web was still a successful platform with wide adoption. Google Analytics came about because the ecosystem was growing and thriving, not to save something that had failed to gain traction.

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#25

Post by resu_nimda » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:49 AM UTC

logfromblammo wrote: post #12

carussell wrote: post #6

I've thought for some time now that the real killer app for natural language assistants—especially voice activated assistants like Alexa, perhaps slightly less suited for text-based chatbots—lies in short, episodic, choose-your-own-adventure-style games. The more I think about it, the more I'm not really sure why this isn't a thing yet, and why we haven't seen a resurgence in the popularity of interactive fiction—alb…

That seems sort of like a bad idea. I'm imagining trying to solve the coin-weighing puzzle of Spellbreaker or the endgame of Spider and Web while driving, and even with a voice assistant, it ends up like this: Lake (sitting inside the car) You are floating on the surface of a beautiful lake. Someone has foolishly driven an automobile into it. > CAR, CALL 911 The voice assistant cheerfully burbles, "You shout '911', b…

1. What does this have to do with Spellbreaker or Spider and Web?

2. This could very easily be handled with overrides at the OS level for specific commands.

3. If this person perished while sitting in a sinking car, trying to arrange a rescue over the phone, they deserve a Darwin award.

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#26

Post by netsharc » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 7:35 AM UTC

alexcabrera wrote: post #3

jkestelyn wrote: post #2

"The technology to make AI-powered assistants truly useful is still far out of reach, and people aren't rushing to close that gap by adapting their behavior." Exactly; if you build a bot with the intention of relying 100% on NLP, you're asking for trouble. But I fail to see how that fact leads to chatbots being useless when there are plenty of tools available for guiding necessary optimizations that can lead to a muc…

To be fair, regular people use websites. Regular people do not use chatbots in significant numbers

A killer app (well, in this consumerism-driven world) would be a TV ad that ends with "Order now! Just tell your voice assistant 'buy me a pair of the pair of Jimmy Choo's Megan Fox wore in her ad!'".

And it would either have your shoe size saved in your profile, or if you're not the right gender, it will prompt "For who is this pair? Your wife has size 38. Your mistress Mandy has size 36."...

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#27

Post by spookyuser » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 7:40 AM UTC

Cyberdog wrote: post #7

Dear people who have product blogs like this: Please put a global header on your blog that says "X is a Y that does Z." In this case, "Digit is a service that helps you automatically save money based on your income and spending." That way, we get some much-needed context when we stumble across your blog articles talking about what you've learned by building and selling your product.

And to add to this, if a product is only available in the U.S it should be marked clearly so. I hate having to look either in the text of your website or the fifth page of your sign up process to find out.

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#28

Post by logfromblammo » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 3:39 PM UTC

resu_nimda wrote: post #25

logfromblammo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems sort of like a bad idea. I'm imagining trying to solve the coin-weighing puzzle of Spellbreaker or the endgame of Spider and Web while driving, and even with a voice assistant, it ends up like this: Lake (sitting inside the car) You are floating on the surface of a beautiful lake. Someone has foolishly driven an automobile into it. > CAR, CALL 911 The voice assistant cheerfully burbles, "You shout '911', b…

1. What does this have to do with Spellbreaker or Spider and Web ? 2. This could very easily be handled with overrides at the OS level for specific commands. 3. If this person perished while sitting in a sinking car, trying to arrange a rescue over the phone, they deserve a Darwin award.

1. They have some intricate puzzles that could be distracting to someone who is driving.

2. Yes, it could, but this hypothetical car manufacturer didn't think of that. They probably don't have a "drive it into a lake" test case, either.

3. I wrote another "transcript" that ended up with the person escaping, but seemed like too much text and not enough delivering the point.

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#29

Post by RepressedEmu » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 3:52 PM UTC

sien wrote: post #21

sago wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are lots of these. In fact, Amazon even has a tool for creating your own. As for regular CYOA interactive fiction, there are lots, And lots of tools for making them. Even start-ups promoting them. But so far there is no long-tail. And outside one or two successes (like "80 days" on iOS), players don't seem to be flocking to it. It's easy to say 'it will be huge', but it it doesn't seem to be even the most popul…

Wow. This is the tool for Alexa. Fantastic. https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/TxEQV5K754YS77/Annou...

I tried it out and it wasn't very usable. You can never have two options reconvene at the same node. And there's no built-in option for adding chance or variables to decisions. I decided to start building my own framework for these options.

Re: This Conversation Is Going Nowhere

#30

Post by jkestelyn » Thu, Feb 01, 2018, 6:42 PM UTC

resu_nimda wrote: post #24

jkestelyn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree but how is that relevant?

Because even when websites were "bad," the web was still a successful platform with wide adoption. Google Analytics came about because the ecosystem was growing and thriving, not to save something that had failed to gain traction.

So analytics are only useful for successful techs with wide adoption? I think many of those techs got that way because of analytics.