For years we have interacted with machines the way they have dictated, by touch - using a keyboard, screen or mouse. But this is not the natural way for humans to communicate. As humans, we prefer voice. In 2018, we'll see more machines communicate the way humans do, with the potential for technology to become more ingrained into our lives than ever.
We're at the beginning of a voice-fuelled technology transformation where new types of devices and services, such as the Echo and Alexa, allow us to communicate more naturally. They are being embedded into everything from cars to home automation services to the factory floor.
Ford, for example, has integrated Alexa into its vehicles, allowing its customers to engage in a more intuitive way with its cars. Drivers can speak to their car and ask it to play their favourite audiobooks. They can do their shopping and get directions. They can connect to all sorts of services outside of the vehicle, being able to manipulate lights and doors in their smart home. From home, customers can communicate with their car by remote starting, locking or unlocking doors and obtaining vehicle information.
This is radically different from the old hands-free approach, which was a single command-driven interface. These modern voice systems are built around conversations, which have a multi-stage, state-full driven approach. Examples include diagnoses for health advice, applications for credit cards or interaction with council services. This is only a glimpse of what will be possible.
By the end of 2018, voice will have changed the way devices and applications are designed. It will also be on the way to becoming the primary interface by which we engage with technology and the world around us. We're already starting to see this in the workplace. Take AstraZeneca, where Alexa is being used by manufacturing teams to ask about standard operating procedures and to find out what to do next. At Nasa, rather than rearranging a conference room for different mission meetings, they speak to Alexa and the building does the rest. For many, voice computing is already here, and the potential is limitless.
When you take into consideration that there are people around the world who have never been exposed to computers and smartphones, or interfaces such as keyboards or a mouse, allowing them to communicate with technology naturally becomes even more important.
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The International Rice Research Institute, just outside Manila in the Philippines, has built a digital system to help farmers find the right amount of fertiliser to apply to their land at a particular time. To increase engagement, they opted for a natural interface for the farmers, building it as a voice-based system in the cloud. Farmers simply take the village phone, call the service, select from a variety of dialects and describe the patch of land. The service, using machine learning, provides advice on the amount of fertiliser they need to use and when they should plant their crops.
The popularity of voice as the main access medium for digital services means that in 2018, back systems will be built differently. In the past they were page-based - such as green-character terminals or mobile cards. Now they are being built as intelligent multi-stage conversational interfaces.
Fundamental to the rapid advancement of these voice-based technologies is the cloud and the vast computing resources it brings. The cloud provides the building blocks customers need to develop conversational systems that are much more natural and feel like having a conversation with a person. The biggest challenge of voice-based systems is making them as natural as possible, particularly with audiences in developing nations, or from older generations that are not tech savvy. Take UK-based Inhealthcare as an example. One of its core tools is using automated telephony as a communication channel to deploy digital health services at scale. For many older people, the telephone is a piece of technology they are comfortable and confident using, and nearly everyone can access it, even if they don't have access to the internet or a smartphone. Using Amazon Polly, Inhealthcare can deliver medication reminders, health advice and help with treatment. A phone call could last anywhere from a few seconds to minutes depending on the complexity of its nature, but with the low latency they can achieve, patients can have a natural conversation, meaning they feel comfortable with the advice they receive and don't hang up.
This is just the beginning of what's possible. We'll see more intelligent services learn not only to talk with us but begin to recognise emotion, learn to engage and have meaningful conversations. In 2018 it's likely that talking could supersede typing.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
