Intelligent personal assistant

The Siri feature shown on a white iPhone 4S

An intelligent personal assistant (or simply IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual. These tasks or services are based on user input, location awareness, and the ability to access information from a variety of online sources (such as weather or traffic conditions, news, stock prices, user schedules, retail prices, etc.). Examples of such an agent are Apple's Siri, Google's Google Now, Amazon Echo, Microsoft's Cortana, Braina (application developed by Brainasoft for Microsoft Windows), Samsung's S Voice, LG G3's Voice Mate, BlackBerry's Assistant, SILVIA, HTC's Hidi, IBM's Watson (computer), and Facebook's M (app).

Description

According to venture capitalist Chi-Hua Chien[1] of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, examples of tasks that may be performed by a smart personal agent-type of Intelligent Automated Assistant[2] include schedule management (e.g., sending an alert to a dinner date that a user is running late due to traffic conditions, update schedules for both parties, and change the restaurant reservation time) and personal health management (e.g., monitoring caloric intake, heart rate and exercise regimen, then making recommendations for healthy choices).

Intelligent personal assistant technology are enabled by the combination of mobile devices, application programming interfaces (APIs), and the proliferation of mobile apps. However, intelligent automated assistants are designed to perform specific, one-time tasks specified by user voice instructions, while smart personal agents perform ongoing tasks (e.g., schedule management) autonomously.

Aspects of an intelligent personal assistant

Organize and maintain information

One of the key aspects of an intelligent personal assistant is its ability to organize and maintain information. This includes the management of emails, calendar events, files, to-do lists, etc.[3]

Problems

A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that Siri and similar devices often gave unhelpful responses to mental health questions.[4]

Comparison of assistants

Intelligent personal assistant Availability Free software Free and open-source hardware HDMI out External I/O Retail price Internet of things integration Chromecast integration Smart phone app Always on Unit to unit voice channel Official website
Assistant Play Store No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Aido not released No N/A N/A N/A U$549 Yes No Yes Yes N/A Link
BlackBerry Assistant BlackBerry 10 No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Braina Windows No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Cortana multiple No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Cubic not released No N/A N/A N/A U$195 Yes No Yes No N/A Link
Echo shipping No No No No U$179 Yes No Yes Yes ? Link
Google Now Play Store No N/A N/A N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes N/A Link
Hound multiple No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes Yes N/A Link
Jibo not released No N/A N/A N/A U$749 Yes No Yes Yes N/A Link
Maluuba not released No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Mycroft not released Yes Yes Yes Yes U$154 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Link
Nina web-based No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
SILVIA API No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Siri App Store No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Sirius Github Yes N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Ubi API No N/A N/A N/A U$399 Yes No Yes Yes N/A Link
Vlingo multiple No N/A N/A N/A No No Yes No N/A Link
Your.MD multiple No N/A N/A N/A - No No Yes No N/A Link

See also

References

  1. "Chi-Hua Chien". CrunchBase. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  2. Empson, Rip (2011-07-29). "Three Companies Chi-Hua Chien Of Kleiner Perkins Would Love To Invest In". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-02-03.
  3. Chaudhri, Vinay; Cheyer, Adam; Guili, Richard; Jarrold, Bill; Myers, Karen; Niekrasz, John. "A Case Study in Engineering a Knowledge Base for an Intelligent Personal Assistant" (PDF).
  4. Lufkin, Bryan (2016-03-14). "Siri Is Woefully Ill-Equipped to Help With Your Mental Health Problems". Gizmodo.


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