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I use Alexa day-to-day to: - Check the time while doing something else. - Set timers when cooking or before I need to leave - Converting units or doing calcu
by Jochim 3y ago
I use Alexa day-to-day to:
- Check the time while doing something else.
- Set timers when cooking or before I need to leave
- Converting units or doing calculations.
- Check the temperature or weather.
- Set the temperature of radiators in specific rooms.
- Announce upcoming calendar events prior to their occurrence, e.g. which bin day is it tomorrow.
- Play/Pause my TV if I'm eating something messy.
- Occasionally for playing music.
Despite this it still feels very limited. I'd use an assistant that integrated an LLM even more frequently. Alexa's biggest drawback is that she isn't conversational, follow-ups only work when they've been explicitly supported. You can't ask her to clarify or correct her in most cases.
Not much work seems to have gone into tightening up the rough edges either. Multi-User support is pretty poor, failing at fairly basic things like "what's on <wife's name>'s calendar tomorrow?". She's unable to answer much about packages as well. Asking her what items are included in the delivery simply prompts her to re-announce that a package is being delivered today.
- liendolucas 3y agoJust curious, don't you have any privacy concerns having something that is potentially listening to you at all times? > Despite this it still feels very limited. Yes, I was actually thinking about this before posting the comment. It can be kind of useful but for very basic things. On mobiles phones is it possible to call emergency services through it?
- malablaster 3y agoWhat specifically are you concerned about?
- liendolucas 3y agoLong time ago I have read an article that was not explicitly about voice assistants, but in this article it was described how a Samsung TV with a microphone was actually hacked and made a surveillance device. Here's a link to this, but again not sure if this was the article I read at a time: https://theintercept.com/2017/03/07/wikileaks-dump-shows-cia-could-turn-smart-tvs-into-listening-devices/ https://theintercept.com/2017/03/07/wikileaks-dump-shows-cia... Edit: So, would you trust something that is there with an open microphone 24hs?
- Jochim 3y ago> Just curious, don't you have any privacy concerns having something that is potentially listening to you at all times? Absolutely, although I have similar concerns about any device with a microphone and network connection. Ultimately it was a trade-off, when an OSS alternative of comparable quality exists I'll switch when I have time. The OSS options have come along a fair bit in the last few years and they seem to be quicker at integrating LLMs. Quality hardware seems to be the biggest barrier. > Yes, I was actually thinking about this before posting the comment. It can be kind of useful but for very basic things. On mobiles phones is it possible to call emergency services through it? I'd assume so, I don't use it much on my phone but I can ask one of the dedicated Alexa devices to call regular phone numbers/contacts and it'll use my phone plan to do so.