From How a startup full of ex-iPhone talent is trying to make phones obsolete:

Humane is trying to realize the promise of “ambient computing” — an artificial intelligence-driven computing experience that’s personal and contextual — by building a software platform and hardware line that doesn’t rely on screens.

Go on...

Humane was founded by Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, ex-Apple employees who played major roles in the creation of both the iPhone and iPad.

Two ex-Apple employees who want to make a (presumably) better AI assistant than Siri? Okay, I'm listening...

At Humane, their stated goal is building technology that's “familiar, natural, and human,” betters the human experience, and is “born from good intentions.” The company believes “we all deserve more from technology,”

Here it comes...

Chaudhri also stresses that Humane is focused on “trust and privacy from day zero.” You should have control over what your technology knows, “your data should be owned by you and only you.”

Oh, fuck off lol.

I'm so tired of the “better tomorrow” promise from snazzy tech start-ups. These “privacy from day zero” promises cannot be kept in the longterm. Not if they want VC funding. Not if they want to go public. Not if they build their empire on techno-capitalism.

But please, continue.

the company is building screen-free ambient computing hardware, and a platform for it to run on, possibly with Android as a starting point...

El Em Motherfucking Aye Oh.

Emphasis mine.

Type: #Note Re: #Privacy #Siri #Technology

I've used the feature a dozen times so far, and while its my favorite new feature by far, the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Siri isn't a particularly smart virtual assistant by any measure. So, it's no wonder that it struggles with all the variables of the written word.

Type: #Note Re: #iOS #Siri #Standardization #Technology

Discuss...

Siri doesn't seem to consider context when choosing the pronunciation of word with multiple potential pronunciations. Apple's voice assistant also lacks a certain cadence in its delivery; a type of flair one may expect from, say, Stephen Fry reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Siri's shortcomings as a voice actor got me thinking— shouldn't there be a markup standardization for this sort of thing? Some kind of metadata that communicates pronunciation, emphasis, etc. to AI readers?

It turns out, such a standardization is in the works from the W3C.

Specification for Spoken Presentation in HTML describes two approaches for markup attribution: multi-attribute and single-attribute.

My realization that a standard is in the works (because of course it is, for accessibility reasons) brings up more questions.

One, why hasn't Apple pushed for this, or even a proprietary public solution, for spoken presentation attributes? Or, have they and I'm missing it?

Two, is this type of attribution considered a matter of formatting? Because if so, is it possible to incorporate these attributes in Markdown? I'd love to give my articles a little voice direction without diving into the markup, or without adding to WYSIWYG editors already clunky interfaces. But, perhaps its far too early to say.

But damn, how great would it be to listen on demand to articles, essays, and books, as the author intended. And imagine if, once that ability is widely adopted, Stephen Fry sold his voice for AI reading instead of the technology companies screwing him out of work.

What a pleasant experience that would be.

Continuing down the rabbit hole

Stuff I learned after posting this article:

The W3C has Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) which is an XML-based standard (like RSS?).

Amazon uses SSML for Alexa. Microsoft uses it for Azure AI services.

Interesting related links:

https://popey.com/blog/2022/10/blog-to-speech-in-my-voice/

http://library.usc.edu.ph/ACM/CHI2019/2exabs/alt08.pdf

Created: September 29, 2023 Future revisions?: Unsure

Type: #Note Re: #Design #Siri #Technology

I have a thousand purchased songs and 250 movies on iTunes. My AirPods are an extension of me during work hours (and after work if I'm honest).

Leaving Apple for another ecosystem would be a messy divorce in which I would lose everything. Yet, I yearn. I long. I flirt. Anytime I shout, “Hey, Siri,” I wonder what could be if my virtual assistant wasn't a fucking idiot.

It didn't take long for Chat GPT to become an everyday tool. I use it to flush out concepts, for technical writing, and javascript coding. Hell, last night, I worked with the AI to create an ADHD playlist to help me find my focus when I work. It was a huge success.

Today, Open AI keeps Chat GPT in a chatbot format. Unless you're Microsoft or one of Open AI's “friends,” you can't do much more with Chat GPT than text back and forth. The same goes for Google's Bard (or whatever they're doing now). This format will soon evolve, and AI will power our virtual voice assistants. Cortana and Google Assistant are poised to take a giant leap forward and be for us everything we hoped Siri would achieve by now.

Siri is shit. Even by non-AI standards, Siri fucking sucks. Half the time, it doesn't respond. And when it does, it's a coin toss on whether it will actually help me with what I need. Siri is slow, unhelpful, and dumb; I can't take it anymore. I want Siri to answer my questions without sending me to the web. I want to write an article as I walk down the street and know what I'm dictating is making it to the page. I want Siri to understand the context, remember conversations, and know when to reference them.

I know what you're thinking— Jason is like that guy in the movie Her. He's going to fall in love with his virtual assistant. Let me tell you something. I am ready to break my heart if that's what it takes to get the virtual assistant we were all promised.

I'll jump ship if Microsoft or Google can put a powerful, conversational AI in my ear before Apple. I'll be the green text bubble in everyone's group chat. Do you hear me, Tim Cook? I'll fucking do it, bro. So help me, God.

I don't want three thousand dollar virtual reality goggles. I don't want new spring colors for our iPhone cases (I do want that). I want you to fix Siri. Do it now. This is embarrassing. I hate it. Get your shit together.

Created: April 5, 2023 Last Evolved: —