Making Artificial Intelligence a Utility

Alongside with democratization of text-mining (see my previous post) comes democratization of AI for voice-based human-computer interaction. And this is exciting!

Several years ago it seemed that speech processing and voice-based interfaces required extensive domain knowledge and computing power. You had to be Google or Apple or Microsoft to have something like Google Now or Siri or Cortana.

Now there emerged startups that work on making voice-based computer interaction accessible to everyone. Words like groundbreaking and innovative are not enough to describe what they are doing. These new companies build voice-based platforms and through APIs allow their users in a matter of seconds teach their apps, websites and devices to understand what people are asking about and find solutions.

Take, for example, Wit.ai. Wit.ai’s motto is “Natural Language for the Internet of Things”. Using Wit.ai developers can build voice interfaces for their apps, devices, robots or messenger agents. This platform is constantly learning and improving its algorithms from every voice-based interaction. What’s cool is that this startup features on its website examples of projects powered by Wit.ai. It’s worth checking out to watch videos of a voice-controlled toaster, a virtual running assistant and a talking barista-bot!

Another startup called Expect Labs was funded among other investors by Google Ventures. They created MindMeld API. With MindMeld API any app or device can understand and answer a spoken question. Imagine you had a Siri intergrated into your car, your smart thermostat or your favorite fitness-tracking app – how cool would that be? What’s more, MindMeld also enhances apps and devices with predictive computing, the ability to proactively make suggestions to users based on what they hear and know.

An even more powerful vision of “artificial intelligence as a utility” stands behind Viv.ai, an AI startup founded by creators of Siri. Viv.ai is working in a stealth mode on a virtual personal assistant which will be able to predict our wishes, understand our requests and figure out the best solutions. Viv.ai is envisioned as an open system, accessible by numerous businesses and apps. The more people use it, the quicker it will learn. And if it learns enough it’ll forever change we way we interact with the world around us.

I can't wait for this future to come.