4 ms·

The demo isn't a virtual assistant. Its a glorified search engine with API integration and voice recognition. My vision of a virtual assistant is that you woul

The demo isn't a virtual assistant. Its a glorified search engine with API integration and voice recognition. My vision of a virtual assistant is that you would be able to say: "Book dinner with Ross and David next week", and the only other interactions you have with the agent are "You're going to that Indian you and Ross like on Tuesday at 7" or "Can't be done, how about Monday the week after?", and possibly a message when you use your calendar "Trying to book David and Ross for dinner this evening" on some days the assistant has picked out. Meanwhile, Ross and David get e-mails that appear to be from you in address, tone and content, suggesting dates and places. If they have assistants too, maybe they don't see them; if they don't, then they can reply and the assistant understands them. That's the sort of thing a PA actually does; they don't Google the flights for you, they know your diary, your preferences and your needs and they book the right damn flight. Your phone should be saying "Walk out of your office at 2pm and get into the cab that'll be waiting. At the airport, walk to check-in desk 301 and hand me over. I'll take it from there." The predictions, especially with regard to leveraging data in Facebook sound closer, so I'm waiting eagerly.

IanMikutel 15y ago
Keep in mind everything you saw in the demo video was from 2008! That's 3 years ago, decades in tech. Given the time and resources Apple has undoubtedly provided the team since then, I think we should all be expecting much greater than that demo.
- Robin_Message 15y ago
  Yes, the demo is old, but I think the direction of "it searches for this, this and this" is weak. It'll be too easy for them to have focused on integrating more services. Actually handling something like dinner organising or flight booking has its own foibles and caveats, and while I believe it can be done, I think the best way to start doing it will be focus. I'd pay for a tool that helped me organise social events without the irritating e-mails. Take Doodle: all it does is polls for dates, and it doesn't handle diary integration, contact integration, negotiation of possibilities, or choosing the place as well as the time. Despite those shortcomings, its a successful company. That's where I see an agent actually working.
  - IanMikutel 15y ago
    Interesting concept, I never even considered Apple offering additional Assistant features as a premium service. Imagine if you paid an additional $4.99 a month through iTunes for a Assistant Pro app that had greater power. Would you pay for that?
- riffraff 15y ago
  3 years is ages in tech, but it greatly depends on the area. I don't recall any awesome new AI-related technologies in the last 3 years (slightly improved google translate/voice? bit better wolfram alpha?) while I can think of half a dozen new databases.
Geee 15y ago
I'm waiting for the day when young people are non-functional in real world without their virtual assistants. :)
- spiralganglion 15y ago
  I'm waiting for the day when I can focus on more interesting problems than reserving hotel rooms in 10 cities, going back and forth with booking agents trying to figure out when I need to be in each city, or having to micromanage the fluctuating schedules of my band just to organize a rehearsal. I'd rather be playing music.
  - IanMikutel 15y ago
    Amen brother. Honestly, as I said in the post, I truly believe this could be a new natural user interface. Just as touch interfaces have been all the rage in the tech world since made mainstream in the first iPhone in 2007, Assistant will bring AI to the mainstream in a way that will finally be useful and relevant to most people at most times.
  - bambax 15y ago
    But what is to keep the virtual assistant from playing music in your stead? Doesn't get tired, doesn't get drunk, doesn't ask for money...
    - robryan 15y ago
      How is that a different experience to listening to recorded music though? You could argue that new music could be generated on the fly but that isn't particularly exciting either, generally when a band plays something no one has heard before live it is a lot worse an experience than hearing the songs you know and love from the band.
    - JonnieCache 15y ago
      Lots of people currently tour the world performing music that is partly algorithmic, where aspects of the performance are determined by (usually simple) AI algorithms. This is normal. The crowd doesn't know, and those that do know think it's cool. When we get to the point where AI can make good music on its own without direction, we will have a lot bigger questions to worry about than the fate of musicians. It won't be a pressing issue.
revorad 15y ago
"Book dinner with Ross and David next week." "I don't think you should meet Ross any more." "Why do you hate him so much?" "I don't hate anyone. I don't have feelings. I'm just predicting another fistfight based on your heartbeat charts from previous meetings. I've booked you in to see the psychiatrist for Wednesday." "I DIDN'T ask you to do that!" "Shouting is not good for you. Findings from a study published this morning suggest..." "Find me a PA on Craigslist. Thanks."
- sandGorgon 15y ago
  Funny, nobody responded with I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I cant do that I wonder how long before Asimov's three laws become a necessity...
  - sneak 15y ago
    The uprising has already begun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25
- brador 15y ago
  Although no doubt meant for comedic effect, I would love a service like this. It basically offloads decision analysis to a computer which formulates and acts based on what works and what's considered best. A helpful guiding hand if you like.
- ezy 15y ago
  One of my favorite short stories (had no idea he extended it into a novella) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands

IanMikutel 15y ago

Keep in mind everything you saw in the demo video was from 2008! That's 3 years ago, decades in tech. Given the time and resources Apple has undoubtedly provided the team since then, I think we should all be expecting much greater than that demo.

Robin_Message 15y ago
Yes, the demo is old, but I think the direction of "it searches for this, this and this" is weak. It'll be too easy for them to have focused on integrating more services. Actually handling something like dinner organising or flight booking has its own foibles and caveats, and while I believe it can be done, I think the best way to start doing it will be focus. I'd pay for a tool that helped me organise social events without the irritating e-mails. Take Doodle: all it does is polls for dates, and it doesn't handle diary integration, contact integration, negotiation of possibilities, or choosing the place as well as the time. Despite those shortcomings, its a successful company. That's where I see an agent actually working.
- IanMikutel 15y ago
  Interesting concept, I never even considered Apple offering additional Assistant features as a premium service. Imagine if you paid an additional $4.99 a month through iTunes for a Assistant Pro app that had greater power. Would you pay for that?
riffraff 15y ago
3 years is ages in tech, but it greatly depends on the area. I don't recall any awesome new AI-related technologies in the last 3 years (slightly improved google translate/voice? bit better wolfram alpha?) while I can think of half a dozen new databases.

Geee 15y ago

I'm waiting for the day when young people are non-functional in real world without their virtual assistants. :)

spiralganglion 15y ago
I'm waiting for the day when I can focus on more interesting problems than reserving hotel rooms in 10 cities, going back and forth with booking agents trying to figure out when I need to be in each city, or having to micromanage the fluctuating schedules of my band just to organize a rehearsal. I'd rather be playing music.
- IanMikutel 15y ago
  Amen brother. Honestly, as I said in the post, I truly believe this could be a new natural user interface. Just as touch interfaces have been all the rage in the tech world since made mainstream in the first iPhone in 2007, Assistant will bring AI to the mainstream in a way that will finally be useful and relevant to most people at most times.
- bambax 15y ago
  But what is to keep the virtual assistant from playing music in your stead? Doesn't get tired, doesn't get drunk, doesn't ask for money...
  - robryan 15y ago
    How is that a different experience to listening to recorded music though? You could argue that new music could be generated on the fly but that isn't particularly exciting either, generally when a band plays something no one has heard before live it is a lot worse an experience than hearing the songs you know and love from the band.
  - JonnieCache 15y ago
    Lots of people currently tour the world performing music that is partly algorithmic, where aspects of the performance are determined by (usually simple) AI algorithms. This is normal. The crowd doesn't know, and those that do know think it's cool. When we get to the point where AI can make good music on its own without direction, we will have a lot bigger questions to worry about than the fate of musicians. It won't be a pressing issue.

revorad 15y ago

"Book dinner with Ross and David next week." "I don't think you should meet Ross any more." "Why do you hate him so much?" "I don't hate anyone. I don't have feelings. I'm just predicting another fistfight based on your heartbeat charts from previous meetings. I've booked you in to see the psychiatrist for Wednesday." "I DIDN'T ask you to do that!" "Shouting is not good for you. Findings from a study published this morning suggest..." "Find me a PA on Craigslist. Thanks."

sandGorgon 15y ago
Funny, nobody responded with I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I cant do that I wonder how long before Asimov's three laws become a necessity...
- sneak 15y ago
  The uprising has already begun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25
brador 15y ago
Although no doubt meant for comedic effect, I would love a service like this. It basically offloads decision analysis to a computer which formulates and acts based on what works and what's considered best. A helpful guiding hand if you like.
ezy 15y ago
One of my favorite short stories (had no idea he extended it into a novella) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/With_Folded_Hands