Essential Features I'd Like to See in My Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants have been around for decades.?

Perhaps you remember special devices that vaguely resembled today's sophisticated smartphones? These were the first digital assistants, not very smart, but a real innovation by the standards of the time. As were subsequent generations of PDAs and smartphones.

Today's innovation (which is no surprise, right?) is artificial intelligence and, accordingly, special products based on it.?

In particular, we are talking about virtual assistants, which, although still in their infancy, have already become constant companions for completely different categories of users.

Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Virtual Assistant Development

To begin with, let's distinguish between basic VAs and AI-powered bots. The former can look like ordinary multifunctional schedulers with which the user interacts.

The second category has a significant difference, which is the initiative of the assistant and a much lower need for direct user interaction with the interface.?

Artificial intelligence plays a key role in this:

• AI allows virtual assistants to perform complex processes such as analysis, learning, problem-solving, and decision-making, making them more efficient and productive in assisting users.
• AI-powered virtual assistants can understand and create text, images, videos, and even speech recognition, providing a more interactive and personalized experience for users.
• AI technology allows virtual assistants to continuously improve and adapt to the needs of users, expanding their capabilities over time.

To summarize, the potential of AI in the development of virtual assistants lies in the creation of more intelligent, intuitive and user-friendly interfaces. These, in turn, can simplify tasks and provide valuable assistance in various fields.

11 Features That Will Definitely Be Useful

I can't really speak for everyone when it comes to what I want in a modern virtual assistant. However, I have a pretty clear idea of my own wishes for truly effective assistants. So, here's my personal list of “wants” and requirements for a virtual assistant that would help me at work and at home.

Voice Recognition

This feature can have several purposes, for example:

• Voice control of the assistant.
• Communication with the application (literally, in the format of a dialogue).
• Data protection through voiceprint authorization.

Imagine that an AI virtual assistant is a person with whom you communicate all the time. Of course, such a solution will have a positive impact on user UX. Besides, it is trivially faster than picking up a fictitious smartphone, opening the app, manually entering commands, selecting menu items, etc.

Natural Language Processing

Yes, we all already know how to use AI tools to generate content and communicate with artificial intelligence. However, this is a completely inconvenient way of communication, especially in cases of interaction with a virtual assistant.

Therefore, the assistant should understand the usual language of communication and perceive it both in text and voice format. Otherwise, the key principle of working with assistants is destroyed.

Customizable Responses

Since generative intelligence often misinterprets the context of a query, there is a risk that it will provide false information. For this reason, a digital assistant should have the ability to adjust answers or train the application core.

With this tool, it will be possible to deeply configure the work of intelligence in the product and clean it from unnecessary algorithms, data, etc., as well as to personalize solutions more powerfully.

Multi-language Support

Almost everyone understands and communicates in several languages. It is important that the assistant not only understands them, but also knows how to systemize and standardize the input into a single format. Both in voice and text format.

By the way, this feature can even be used to build a full-fledged auto-translator that will understand what you say in real-time and translate it into the appropriate format in the target language.

Can you imagine the prospects this will open up? For example, tourism can be done without borders and language barriers.

Task Automation

A virtual assistant is your digital alter ego. More precisely, it's you, only in the form of code. You're doing something. Okay, task scheduling and control over their execution are usually left to the user. However, artificial intelligence is quite capable of adapting your patterns of behavior and interaction and performing certain tasks according to these algorithms.

Formally, it will automatically plan your routine, contact certain people at certain times, activate functions, and generate some reports. And that's just the first thing that comes to mind.

Integration With Smart Home Devices

Artificial intelligence has moved from web solutions and smartphones to devices that are quite familiar to us. For example, smart home systems can optimize routines and even get rid of them. However, while earlier this required special remote controls, touch panels, or separate apps, nowadays, administration can be done by interacting with an assistant.

Imagine that you can simply say something like “It's dark in the room” to your phone, which is lying nearby. Your assistant will respond by connecting to your smart home system and switching on the lights or adjusting their brightness. The same goes for the rest of the household appliances, mechanisms, etc. Almost utopian, don't you think?

Reminder and Calendar Management

We all forget things, so we set reminders, notifications, etc. However, we usually do this manually, i.e., we take our smartphone, open the app, select the date, add certain tags, write a message, and activate the notification. Yes, some current apps such as Google Assistant or Siri can partially automate this process, but only for basic tasks.

The latest virtual assistants must learn to perform all these actions in the context of a single voice command, for example: “Make an appointment with Margo at the nearest restaurant at 7pm, notify Margo and remind me at 6:20.” And that's it, the event is created, Margot knows about it, and you will receive a notification at the set time. How convenient is that?

Personalization

Yes, you can still choose a design theme, move icons around the app layout, etc. However, this is not all that can potentially be personalized in and with the assistant. For example, if you don't like the stock voice of your assistant, you don't have to fire it and hire a new one. Just generate a voice you like.

Or maybe you need your assistant to know about project management and be able to quickly provide you with information from the same PMBOK. In this case, simply disable the data scanning areas that you don't need to use. It's just a concept right now, but we'll soon see solutions based on personalized LLMs.

Information Retrieval

Google is a monopolist of search services, but its algorithms are far from perfect. Or we are too lazy to search for information on the web for a long time. In such cases, an AI-powered assistant will become a practical magic wand for all users.

In particular, it will be able to independently analyze search results, scan relevant pages, and provide you with valuable information in raw or processed form. It will also be able to validate sources, check facts, suggest alternatives, paraphrase texts, generate images or other types of content. And all this with the help of voice commands.

Security and Privacy Measures

Just as you must adhere to ethical norms and rules of communication with artificial intelligence, an AI-based assistant must be safe. For example, it should be based on an individual LLM or SLM, have a separate isolated data hosting, reinforcement training based on high-quality materials, etc.

As a result, you will get an assistant who will securely store your data, especially sensitive data, process it in a secure environment, and provide only safe and useful information. By the way, the same assistant can be used to search for security issues in other products or settings, as well as to eliminate vulnerabilities on its own.

Emotional Intelligence

I have said a lot of things, but I will leave the main thing for the end. Honestly, I wouldn't want to communicate with a robot, even in the context of interaction with a virtual assistant. It is clear that we have not even reached the second stage of artificial intelligence development yet, so it is out of the question for it to perceive human emotions. However, in the future, this should be one of the key priorities for the development of AI and products based on it.

The assistant should be able to perceive the user's mood and respond to it appropriately. Or at least not as dry and emotionless as current solutions of similar classes.

Let's Summarize

Modern digital assistants are somewhat reminiscent of ordinary programs that partially automate and speed up routine tasks. However, they are still far from being called full-fledged assistants and really cover the list of processes that the user would like to delegate to them.

On the one hand, everything described in this article demonstrates my view of an ideal assistant. On the other hand, it is unlikely that anyone would say that the list is not objective.

Yes, current products are already in short supply in a world where progress and innovation are outpacing demand and opportunities. However, this means that it is quite likely that new, relevant solutions will appear, including the functionality I have described.

How do you see virtual assistants of the future? Share your concepts in the comments!