{"id":8234,"date":"2021-10-07T18:07:51","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T18:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1369203"},"modified":"2021-10-07T18:07:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T18:07:51","slug":"how-consumer-facing-ai-as-a-service-is-remaking-the-world-of-smart-gadgets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=8234","title":{"rendered":"How consumer-facing \u2018AI as a service\u2019 is remaking the world of smart gadgets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Amazon\u2019s Echo Dot is on its fourth generation. And within each of those generations there are myriad iterations and variations on the basic design.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just the Dot. In all, there are dozens of different \u201cEcho\u201d devices. And each one is either a newly-introduced product or an iteration of a previous generation. And there will be more next year and more the year after that.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the status quo looks like in smart gadgets. If you got a smart TV for your birthday last year, you can probably get a new version of the same TV on your birthday again this year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just an environmentally unsustainable paradigm, it\u2019s also a greedy one that creates a meta-market for people who care more about the prestige of an iteration than craftsmanship or product support.<\/p>\n

The iPhone model<\/h2>\n

However, it\u2019s difficult to challenge the iterative hardware paradigm in an age where the technology world is experiencing an explosion in artificial intelligence advances.<\/p>\n

Ten years ago, as far as the mainstream was concerned, artificial intelligence was something that scientists and businesses used to sift through massive amounts of data.<\/p>\n

AI is a consumer-facing tech now. We interact with chatbots, we rely on the algorithm to surface our entertainment, and we control our lights, alarms, and cars with integrated AI systems. We\u2019re a hybrid human-AI species now and the lines between us and our technology will only get blurrier as we evolve.<\/p>\n

This requires a reexamining of the iPhone model. We\u2019ve become accustomed to yearly announcements from big tech. Our dopamine receptors tend to get all atwitter imagining what the next big thing <\/i>from Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Facebook will be.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you consider how quickly hardware, software, AI, and programming languages are advancing, it\u2019s almost impossible to imagine a better way of doing things. We want a new iPhone every year because the newest iPhone tends to be a genuinely better product than last year\u2019s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Time stands for no startup<\/span><\/h2>\n

However, if there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s certain in the technology world, it\u2019s that everything changes. Netflix was founded in the same year that DVD players went on sale in the US. In a little over two decades DVDs have gone from obscure to mainstream to one of the most lucrative media markets in history to obsolete. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a better than nil chance that the smart phone could end up in the same bargain bins you\u2019ll find the widescreen deluxe DVD of <\/span>Titanic<\/i> with director\u2019s commentary in one day. Especially if we reach a hardware iteration that proves difficult to improve upon. <\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, pressure from environmentalists and enough consumers getting fed up with spending thousands of dollars to re-purchase their devices every year could lead to a revolutionary shift in the software and AI direction for both consumers and savvy startups. <\/span><\/p>\n

When Netflix was founded it was a company that mailed DVDs to people. When Amazon was founded it sold books. Facebook started off as a Hot or Not for Harvard. Having the agility to see and sieze an emerging market is what makes the difference between those companies and the thousands of startups that popped along with the dotcom bubble.<\/span><\/p>\n

The future is now<\/span><\/h2>\n

Earlier this year we covered the launch<\/a> of a startup called Whisper. It\u2019s an artificial intelligence as a service (AIaaS) company that makes hearing devices. <\/span><\/p>\n

As the company\u2019s chairman Dwight Crow told me at the time, \u201cit\u2019s not a very sexy problem to solve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is an interesting one because it\u2019s ripe for disruption. Whisper\u2019s one of a handful of companies trying to build a better hearing aid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Where it\u2019s doing things differently is in how it sells those hearing aids. Traditional hearing aids tend to cost between one and five thousand dollars. Whisper \u201cleases\u201d its devices to consumers as part of a monthly subscription fee.<\/span><\/p>\n

In essence, consumers are paying a subscription fee for the AI-powered software running on the device. Whisper bundles the hardware and software offerings with updates, customer service, and visits to a local physician. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whisper just sent its third major AI update<\/a> to consumers earlier this week. After monitoring the user base\u2019s use of a feature called the \u201cSound Separation Engine,\u201d the company upgraded its algorithms and determined that the system should activate approximately 67% more often. <\/span><\/p>\n

This was all seamless for the users. The AI controlling the gadget makes real-time decisions on volume levels and the Sound Separation Engine is what determines whether a sound is background noise or something that needs greater loudness, clarity, and presence. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whisper\u2019s technicians simply went over the data, figured out when the AI was activating certain features, and optimized functionality. <\/span><\/p>\n

The big picture<\/span><\/h2>\n

Neural asked Whisper\u2019s CEO, Andrew Song, how the company viewed AIaaS. They told us:<\/p>\n

\n

The use of AI in consumer electronics is generally something that is best when it\u2019s invisible \u2013 Siri and Alexa being the most obvious examples. It\u2019s at its best when it \u201cjust works\u201d without having to be called out as a novelty, anticipating what a user needs or what a user says without needing the customer to do extra work. The joy for the user is that they don\u2019t have to do anything to engage with that AI \u2013 they just hear the world with greater clarity and contrast.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We may be a long way away from seeing diminishing returns when it comes to iterative hardware such as smartphones. But history tells us it\u2019s bound to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took less than a century for physical media to be almost entirely replaced by digital media. CDs and DVDs only made sense until it was more lucrative to sell subscriptions online. <\/span><\/p>\n

And iterative hardware will make sense until the prestige of having the newest, coolest gadget is superseded by the prestige of having an AI system that makes it possible to forget you\u2019re even using hardware. <\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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