testsetset
You can’t be late to a party that’s just getting started. That seems to be the case for Samsung, which next week will unveil its new voice bot to the world. Called Bixby, the company’s artificial intelligence powered assistant will soon be rubbing elbows with guests like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, and Google. (Yes, in a chip off the old block move, Google named its offspring after itself, causing confusion and consternation.)
Sure, you might point out that Siri has been on the iPhone since 2011, and that’s when this voice bot party started. But where the capabilities of Bixby, Alexa, Cortana, Google or Siri are today, is nowhere near where they will be tomorrow. What functions are they best for? How smart can they become? What dead-end paths will they lead their parent companies down? That we can’t even come up with a common name — voice bots, voice interfaces, intelligent assistants, AI assistants, to name a few of them — suggests their youth and unrealized potential.
Further, you may argue that Bixby will likely include many features of Viv, the latest from Dag Kittlaus, the brains behind by Siri, and acquired by Samsung. You might think of this as arriving at a party when it’s already last call. Ok, then. But in reality, Samsung is showing up fashionably late. After all, it looks like our guests are drinking up the AI and Robert Earl Keen Jr. is on the jukebox.
As always, please send news tips to Khari Johnson and guest post submissions to John Brandon. Be sure to visit our Bots Channel for comprehensive news on bots and messaging.
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Thanks for reading,
Blaise Zerega
Editor in Chief
P.S. Please enjoy this video from CNBC comparing Siri to Viv back in May 2016.
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