Hey Siri, what am I thinking?

I've spent most of my career writing code, designing digital circuits, and developing businesses in Speech Technology. I'm a huge fan of technology in general, and an optimist on our future. I also firmly believe our newest technologies teach us a very clear lesson about ourselves:

We are a lot cooler than we think.

Certainly a lot cooler than the little personal assistants many of us carry around with us in our phones these days.

You see, while a good friend, or even someone who just knows you reasonably well, will be able to answer the question above with a fair degree of accuracy - a relative stranger will likely do pretty well under most circumstances too.

Say for example, you are sitting in Starbucks like I was yesterday. It was an unusually warm day for October in New York and the sun was out in clear blue skies. There was a long line at the register and lots of email, messaging and chatter going on. There was also a dog barking outside because a car owner just honked his horn at another driver.

Now, the little baby sitting in the stroller in front of me just perked up and began to scan around the room. He had no clue where these unusual dog and car noises came from, let alone what they were. He knew only that surely, something different is going on. So quickly, what do you think he's thinking?

Well, I doubt you'd say he's thinking it's pretty warm for this time of year here in New York. Nor would you say he'd like to know about a great show on PBS right now that he may be interested in, even if it happens to be Sesame Street. Of course not.

If you're a Dad like me, or if you're a Mom, either still raising your kids, or reflecting back on your past experiences raising them, you immediately think (on behalf of the little cutie in your presence) "What's that noise? That should not be there. I haven't heard that one before", right? If it's your kid, you might even put your coffee down, pick them up, and show them all the commotion outside.

This applies for big brother and big sister too. Even at this young age, they instinctively realize that as their new little sibling struggles to understand their new world, they need someone knowledgeable and familiar to them to help guide them through it. Someone just like them.

This is exactly what is needed in this situation. You didn't even have to "think" about it. You hit the nail right on the head in an instant. So simple. Yet so amazing.

And why are you so good at this? Many reasons - not the least of which are human empathy, theory of mind and some pretty awesome communication skills - skills that are embedded, autonomous and have taken millions of years of evolution and thousands of years human to human interaction to master and hardwire into our very core. Even big sister and brother are getting really good at it already.

Want to know what Siri replied when I asked the same question as I walked back from that Starbucks?

How friggin' snarky is that? And for a technology that's supposed to be an "assistant"?

Now, don't get me wrong here; I am a huge fan of all (or most at least) things Apple, Google and Amazon. And, having been in Speech Technology for over 20 years now, I am absolutely delighted these heavyweights have come to throw well, their heavy weight (and deep pockets) into an area badly in need of it. But I really believe its time to dispense with (or at least curtail) the hype and glitzy marketing pitches and start putting more of those dollars and resources into improving the actual technology itself. Sorry marketing guys; they will come because it works for them - not because you tell them it's the coolest thing ever. They may come if you tell them that, but they certainly won't stay for long.

If you don't believe me, talk to anyone that tried to interact with Speech Technology in the 1990s or even 2000s. The technology never lived up to the hype. And it wasn't just poor recognition rates and the absence of AI. AI is definitely going to help us here, but it is by no means the be all and end all. First, we start with understanding why seemingly simple questions like this one are in fact, so telling in regards to how cool we humans really are. Hopefully, it's time for lessons learned.

Daniel O’Sullivan is the CEO and Founder of Gyst Technologies, a company that creates innovative cloud based technologies. Dan is also a Board Member at the MIT Enterprise Forum, and an NYU and Bell Labs alumnus.