Smart Speakers: AI's Soft Leading Edge

It39s not so scary just a little frustrating right now asking Alexa to play Nightmares on Waxamp160 Or asking quotHey Google who played Starbuck on Battlestar Galacticaquotamp160 Or asking Siri to lower the temperature to 72amp176amp160 It39s nonthreatening kind of funamp160and getting better all the timeamp160 We will slowly incorporate this convenience into our lives and before long we will wonder how we lived without itIn case you haven39t noticed there is an AI arms race going onamp160 The big players are Amazon with Alexa Google with Google Assistant Apple with Siri Microsoft with Cortanaamp160and Samsung with Bixbyamp160 Over eightamp160of every 10 US consumers are aware of them and usage is on the riseWhether voice assistants are simply resident on your smartphone or embodied in your home on a smart speaker capable of interacting with other smart devices the fact that the primary interface of interaction is your voice is significantamp160amp160Voice is a great interface from the human side it39s low friction intuitiveamp160and easy to useamp160 As the AI side gets better at speech recognition and natural language processing understanding context intent and nuance it will be the easiest way to interact in the digital worldamp160 There are projections that by 2020amp160half of all searches will be conducted by voice rather than typing comScoreamp160 Magid39s own Mobile Lifestyle research found that 54 of mobile users in the US use a voice assistant at least once a week and 32 use it once a day or multiple times a dayamp160Let39s focus on the smart speakers for a moment the closest thing we have right now that resembles what AI will emerge to be in the home setting of the futureamp160amp160With all the changes taking place in media and entertainment due to changing behaviors like bingeing streamingamp160and cord cutting you may be wondering why you should careamp160 After all smart speakers are relatively nascent right nowMagid39s latest Media Consumption Study shows only 22 of homes have connected an Amazon Alexa device Echo Dot or Tap to their home39s WiFi connectionamp160 Current satisfaction with the devices isamp160solid but not stellarquotHey Alexa amp8211 Find Me Something Good to WatchquotWhy should you care and why should you care nowamp160 Because voice assistantssmart speakers AI will be the next great disintermediator between you and your customersMajor media companies are investing billions in SVOD platforms and services that enable a direct relationship with the customeramp160 Finally no distributors in the middle keeping them from direct access to the end useramp160 Finally the ability to have a onetoone personalized relationship with the vieweramp160 Finally access to valuable viewing dataEnter voiceactivated AI the new gatekeeperamp160 A new walled gardenamp160 A new search paradigm to master at best and a new paytoplay disintermediator at worstVoice Assistants and Smart Speakers The Next Great Disintermediator Between You and Your CustomersThe news industry is slowly waking up to the impact of AI and so should the entertainment industryamp160 A year ago Trushar Barot an editor at the British Broadcasting Corporation in an article for Harvard39s NiemanLab wrote quotAI is largely being missed as an industry priority amp8230 it feels like we39re theamp160frog being slowly boiled alive not perceiving the danger to itself until it39s too late to jump outquotamp160 He continued by relaying something he said to futurist and author Amy Webbamp160amp160quotIn all the speeches and presentations I39ve made I39ve been shouting about voice AI until I39m blue in the faceamp160 I don39t know to what extent any of the leaders in the news industry are listeningquotBarot adds to this with a quote Webb wrote inamp160a piece for Nieman Reportsamp160 quotTalking to machines rather than typing on them isn39t some temporary gimmickamp160 Humans talking to machines and eventually machines talking to each other represents the next major shift in our news information ecosystemquotThe same holds true for entertainmentNow that I have your attention here39s your AISmart Speaker todo listLearnamp160amp160Be proactive in understanding the impacts of voiceenabled AI in the homeSkillsamp160amp160Become active with the major players and help develop skills for your brandsamp160 This will help you understand the potential gatekeepers nowDevelop an Agile Strategy Template AST for AIamp160amp160Start scenario planning for shortterm and longterm impactsDon39t waitPhoto creditamp160 Charles DeluvioUnsplashClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Smart Speakers: AI's Soft Leading Edge

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Debby Ruth

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Smart Speakers: AI's Soft Leading Edge

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