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Alexa+

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Re: Alexa+

#301

Post by acdha »

dangus wrote: post #209
kemitche wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a few dozen use cases based on my own use of smart home devices: - Hands are full or dirty while cooking. Voice activation is more convenient. True for not just timers, but every other aspect - music playing, controlling home devices like lights, watching something on YouTube, etc. - The above also applies to any case where my hands can't readily access my phone, such as wanting to listen/change music when sho…

Smart speakers just don't solve a problem. Period. - Don't need to control home devices or watch shit while you're cooking. If I really want to queue up a video I just do that before I start cooking. - Don't need music while showering, who cares, showering takes 5 minutes - Again just like "oh it's for music" - Yes I like controlling smart lights but I can just hold the power button on my phone and tell it what to do…

This sounds like the dudes who said the iPod was pointless because they already had MP3s on their computer, or wondering why they bought Macs instead of PCs. Other people are allowed to have different priorities than you, and it’s okay for products to find a niche which isn’t universal – very few things have smartphone levels of ubiquity.

It’s generally quite useful to react to other people persistently buying something you don’t feel the need for by learning what they value. For example, smart speakers are quite popular with parents who either have their hands full (literally), don’t want the distraction of a screen, or want something for the gap measured in years where a kid can talk but does not have a personal computer. That’s certainly not universal, but if you think about similar contexts or needs you might come up with some good product ideas which could be worthwhile even if they never ship in the billions of units.

Re: Alexa+

#302

Post by m_kos »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #111
delichon wrote: post #5

I've been spoiled by LLMs in my daily work and now want to put the same kind of prompts into search boxes. Not "air fryers" but "air fryers without bluetooth or wifi and less than 3 cooking modes, and no negative reviews about the device failing prematurely." I'm not going to let Alexa plus or minus listen into my whole life, but I would like some that of intelligence when I actually go shopping.

I've found Perplexity.ai with Deepseek R1 to be very good at choosing a product or a hotel for me. I just punched in your query and it actually chose the air fryer that's already sitting in my kitchen ! "Cosori Pro LE Air Fryer" It's a good air fryer. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/air-fryers-without-bluetoot... Another example, after spending an hour on trip advisor going back and forth to maps to check for walkin…

I am on a one-month free trial of Perplexity Pro and its deep research is excellent. It may very occasionally deviate from the original query, but I will still miss it a lot. It makes using Google feel like such a chore.

Re: Alexa+

#303

Post by mech422 »

Larrikin wrote: post #237
dangus wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smart speakers just don't solve a problem. Period. - Don't need to control home devices or watch shit while you're cooking. If I really want to queue up a video I just do that before I start cooking. - Don't need music while showering, who cares, showering takes 5 minutes - Again just like "oh it's for music" - Yes I like controlling smart lights but I can just hold the power button on my phone and tell it what to do…

This comment reads like the type of arguments people used to make about cell phones versus standard computers. Why is convenience so bad? Also maybe try a longer shower or a bath. Its usually the most relaxing part of my day and I would hate to be in and out in 5 minutes

Yes - this is the guy that should decide for everyone...the guy that uses a multi hundred dollar device to replace a $30 amazon puck..

Re: Alexa+

#304

Post by aprilthird2021 »

doctoboggan wrote: post #250
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask you what makes you so sure that it's an LLM-based search - and not any other kind of NLP search tech?

They said so in a press release: https://www.instacart.com/company/updates/bringing-inspirati... > Ask Instacart leverages the language understanding capabilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Can anyone use this? Might get Instacart just to plan my shopping list before I go to the grocery store

Re: Alexa+

#305

Post by r00fus »

dboreham wrote: post #261
Aurornis wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your memory is mistaken. Amazon will give up recordings when legally obligated to do so, because that’s the law. They can’t choose to ignore the law. However, Alexa and similar devices don’t actually record everything. Amazon doesn’t get a recording of everything the devices hear. They have to be triggered by the wake word (or possible a false positive). Here’s a case where the Alexa command was used as part…

[flagged]

And anyone he designates.

Re: Alexa+

#306

Post by grg0 »

toddmorey wrote: post #36

They are very hand-wavy in the privacy & security section.

AKA there is none. Remember that this comes from the company that gives police access to video footage without a warrant. You should expect as much privacy as when taking a dump in a public park. They won't put that in the privacy section of the TOS, though.

Re: Alexa+

#307

Post by WheatMillington »

Arthanos wrote: post #152

>Let’s say you need to get your oven fixed—Alexa+ will be able to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to discover the relevant service provider, authenticate, arrange the repair, and come back to tell you it’s done—there’s no need to supervise or intervene. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't trust an LLM to choose between two brands of dish soap for me let alone pick a contractor, schedule a repair, and make a…

>Even the "simple" task of summarizing news had so many catastrophic failures that Apple had to pull it from the market.

I'm not aware of any failures that could reasonably be described as "catastrophic".

Re: Alexa+

#308

Post by bttrpll »

Arthanos wrote: post #152

>Let’s say you need to get your oven fixed—Alexa+ will be able to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to discover the relevant service provider, authenticate, arrange the repair, and come back to tell you it’s done—there’s no need to supervise or intervene. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't trust an LLM to choose between two brands of dish soap for me let alone pick a contractor, schedule a repair, and make a…

I remember when Alexa in a household appliances (e.g., microwaves) and nearly burned people's houses down. This should be interesting.

Re: Alexa+

#309

Post by onedognight »

65 wrote: post #181
harmmonica wrote: post #28

If an LLM-based voice assistant/hardware combination works as well as ChatGPT-for-voice works today, I don't think it's a stretch to say that nearly everyone in the coming years will use/have one (the software of course will be portable to whatever device you're using--house, phone, car, etc. But the hardware portion I do believe will be critical because most of the time using it will be at home in a room and in that…

You know, people said the same thing the first time voice assistants came out. They said the same thing when VR came out. Even when 3D printers came out for God's sake. "Everyone will have one!" It's a mistake to think every person is the same level of enthused with new technology as you are.

> It's a mistake to think every person is the same level of enthused with new technology as you are.

This is true in general, but LLMs do search better. Everyone already does search.

Re: Alexa+

#310

Post by serial_dev »

jhp123 wrote: post #284
Arthanos wrote: post #152

>Let’s say you need to get your oven fixed—Alexa+ will be able to navigate the web, use Thumbtack to discover the relevant service provider, authenticate, arrange the repair, and come back to tell you it’s done—there’s no need to supervise or intervene. This is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't trust an LLM to choose between two brands of dish soap for me let alone pick a contractor, schedule a repair, and make a…

This reminds me of Facebook's "M" assistant from 2017. > Today, a few hundred Bay Area Facebook users will open their Messenger apps to discover M, a new virtual assistant. Facebook will prompt them to test it with examples of what M can do: Make restaurant reservations. Find a birthday gift for your spouse. Suggest---and then book---weekend getaways. https://www.wired.com/2015/08/facebook-launches-m-new-kind-v...

Just like nuclear fusion is always 30 years away, you can find a handyman and schedule an appointment with a voice assistant / chatbot in 6 months, and everyone will use self driving cars in 5 years.
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