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It's easy to imagine a large proportion of the population wanting to use natural language to achieve complex technical tasks. It is, after all, the same API tha

It's easy to imagine a large proportion of the population wanting to use natural language to achieve complex technical tasks. It is, after all, the same API that people use with each other. Someone could then describe what they want out of a spreadsheet instead of manually editing it. What interface would you prefer?

mmm123456789 11y ago
I just built a very rudimentary version of this "speak to spreadsheet" idea: https://github.com/diesendruck/ggspeak https://github.com/diesendruck/ggspeak Or for the demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtrGxVvVyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtrGxVvVyg If you're interested in working on it together, get in touch.
cinquemb 11y ago
>It's easy to imagine a large proportion of the population wanting to use natural language to achieve complex technical tasks. It is, after all, the same API that people use with each other. True, and this api will be deprecated for those who want more efficient means of communication in the future and willing to work towards it. >What interface would you prefer? EM fluctuations in real time of the neurons in my body to machine code via trillions of nano sensors/transmitters/stimulators. Vocal cords and limbs need not apply… will be way more intuitive than "natural language".
pjc50 11y ago
the same API that people use with each other Have you ever tried to do a "complex technical task" by directing an unskilled person over the phone? It's a tremendously frustrating experience. Natural language alone isn't useful without your interlocutor having enough understanding of the problem domain to work out what you mean and help you. So a natural language interface to the spreadsheet would have to be on the level of "perform linear regression on these sales figures" in order to be more useful than mere speech-to-text.
overgard 11y ago
Yes and no. We have a lot of ways of communicating with each other and talking is only one of many. For instance, if I want to formally request something I'd put it in writing -- I want there to be a reference document that all interested parties can go back to. Likewise if I need a building, we might have a conversation about what we want, but the most important communication is the blueprint. If I'm making a blueprint, it's a lot quicker to put pen to paper than it is to tell another person where to put the lines. I think software is inventing a lot of new ways to communicate with each other, and that's a pretty awesome thing; I just think speech is a very inefficient and imprecise way to communicate things, and efficiency and precision are what you really want when dealing with a computer.

mmm123456789 11y ago

I just built a very rudimentary version of this "speak to spreadsheet" idea: https://github.com/diesendruck/ggspeak https://github.com/diesendruck/ggspeak Or for the demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtrGxVvVyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtrGxVvVyg If you're interested in working on it together, get in touch.

cinquemb 11y ago

>It's easy to imagine a large proportion of the population wanting to use natural language to achieve complex technical tasks. It is, after all, the same API that people use with each other. True, and this api will be deprecated for those who want more efficient means of communication in the future and willing to work towards it. >What interface would you prefer? EM fluctuations in real time of the neurons in my body to machine code via trillions of nano sensors/transmitters/stimulators. Vocal cords and limbs need not apply… will be way more intuitive than "natural language".

pjc50 11y ago

the same API that people use with each other Have you ever tried to do a "complex technical task" by directing an unskilled person over the phone? It's a tremendously frustrating experience. Natural language alone isn't useful without your interlocutor having enough understanding of the problem domain to work out what you mean and help you. So a natural language interface to the spreadsheet would have to be on the level of "perform linear regression on these sales figures" in order to be more useful than mere speech-to-text.

overgard 11y ago

Yes and no. We have a lot of ways of communicating with each other and talking is only one of many. For instance, if I want to formally request something I'd put it in writing -- I want there to be a reference document that all interested parties can go back to. Likewise if I need a building, we might have a conversation about what we want, but the most important communication is the blueprint. If I'm making a blueprint, it's a lot quicker to put pen to paper than it is to tell another person where to put the lines. I think software is inventing a lot of new ways to communicate with each other, and that's a pretty awesome thing; I just think speech is a very inefficient and imprecise way to communicate things, and efficiency and precision are what you really want when dealing with a computer.