THE RISE OF VOICE CONTROL

As innovators in the US on voice control, EI asked Josh.ai for the company’s thoughts on the now and the future of voice control.

The team at Josh.ai is slightly biased, but it is our belief that voice control will be prevalent in every smart home within the next 10 years. While surging consumer demand slightly cooled during the pandemic, 95 million US adults have at least one smart speaker and 50% of device owners use them daily according to a Voicebot. ai report from March, 2022. The data proves that people not only want to use voice control, but are also intensely loyal once they have adopted it.

The data also shows that the mass market smart speaker providers have done a fantastic job proliferating voice and exposing consumers to its benefits. However, in an attempt to offer a little bit of everything for the DIY market, most voice assistants today have only scratched the surface of integration and meaningful functionality. Instead, opting for a skill-based approach that requires the memorisation of trigger phrases for assistance and control. The goal going forward is to continue adding value and increased accessibility for specific use-cases.

By focusing on the niche of smart home automation, Josh.ai is leading the charge to legitimise voice control from what some perceive as a novelty to a primary user interface. The key to doing so is ensuring user experiences remain simple while assuaging concerns around data privacy and security. As long as a comfort level is established with voice control, it is the most natural and empowering interface for all user demographics.

On top of requiring less education as a supplementary interface, voice control allows users to simplify their living spaces. Not only do consumers prefer having less wall clutter with switches, knobs, remotes, and screens that they need to learn how to use; interior designers and architects desire technology that truly integrates into its surroundings.

More voice control means less and more subtle wall controllers

Microphones can be discreetly installed when desired, blending into the background to create elegant and intelligent environments that suit the needs of every stakeholder in the designbuild process.

While we are working our way towards the AI-powered future envisioned by the last century’s greatest science fiction marvels, technology adoption takes time. Voice control today is more capable and enabling than a lot of people realise. However, we still have a long way to go before the experience reaches the level that is often desired and associated with the technology in films like Star Wars or shows like Westworld. Right now, we are still limited to a command-and-response type of interaction as opposed to the conversational AI that has been depicted by Hollywood.

In the meantime, seemingly simple technology still needs to displace its predecessor and gain market acceptance. We have seen the beginnings of this evolution take shape at a rapid pace and it clearly suggests voice is the next interface wave following the touch revolution brought on by the Apple iPhone. It is inevitable that research and development will catch up to the demand that we are seeing across residential, commercial, hospitality, automotive, healthcare and more industries. As we look at the landscape of voice and AI, not every voice assistant is created equally or needs to solve everything for everyone yet. One day, there will likely be general-purpose assistants that can handle most functions. In the meantime, voice control needs to set expectations properly and execute what it says it is capable of. Today’s assistants have a wide variety of skills and capabilities, with merits and faults that illustrate none are created equally. For example, some might be able to handle accents or multiple languages better than others.

In Josh.ai’s case, using voice control in the home, there is a lot of engineering that goes into contextually accurate and reliable automation of the ecosystem. From lights and shades to TV, music, HVAC and more, we understand our purpose and are continuously optimising it while exploring other environments where our expertise can apply. Office spaces and hotels use many of the same technologies, and we are already seeing voice control enter these verticals as well.

The last big hurdle for growing voice control’s usage is the element of trust when microphones are installed in private areas. Many of the voice assistants available today are built by large companies known for utilising data in opaque ways. Some users are weary of who is listening in and how their data is being utilised. Fortunately, Josh.ai and others are taking the opposite approach, building privacyfirst assistants that never distribute or sell data. It will take time for this movement to grow, but it will certainly get there.

Today, voice control is at its beginning, opening the way for true automation and intelligence. In the future, our surroundings will not only respond to commands, but will also make recommendations, pre-emptively call for services when needed, remind users about upcoming events, and become a vital part of our day-to-day lives. We are of course biased, but the Josh.ai team is in this field for a reason. We are passionate believers that AI will dramatically and positively impact our world.

At this time, Josh.ai does not have a timeline for entering Europe. Our team needs to determine the right strategic business opportunity and identify areas where engineering development will be required before we are able to accommodate the European market and the GDPR. Although we are unable to operate outside of North America today, anyone can join our mailing list at the bottom of https://www.josh.ai/ to stay up to date for when Josh.ai expands internationally.