Siri has been the face of personal digital AI assistants for years, despite attempts by Google and Microsoft. Let’s face it, Google Now and Cortana, while great, don’t see as much wide recognition as Siri does, perhaps due to her humourous quips and also due to being shipped with nearly every product and platform Apple churns out. However, it may soon face harsh competition by another AI assistant, one that’s been made by Siri’s original creators.
Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer created the artificial intelligence behind Siri and yesterday they showed off their new AI: Viv, a digital assistant they’ve been developing behind closed curtains for four years. And it’s already better than Siri in multiple areas. For instance, the problem with Siri is that it actually only links to a very small circle of apps, nearly all of which are homebrewed Apple ones. For other enquiries it merely conducts a web search. Viv on the other hand offers the ability to connect to third-party apps so that it can execute commands via those apps. During a 20-minute on stage demonstration Viv effortlessly handled complex requests and connected to a number of third-party apps to purchase goods and book reservations.
So far only Amazon and Facebook’s Bots offer integration with third-party services on this level.
“Viv is designed to be devices agnostic — think one platform, open to all services, for all devices, personalized for you. Viv’s goal is to be ubiquitous so it will understand your preferences and history as you engage with it on your mobile device, or in your car, or with your smart device at home. Our sense is there will be a move away from having hundreds of different apps that act independently. These services will be integrated into everyday life. Viv will be the platform to enable it.”
– Adam Koopersmith, a partner with Pritzker Group Venture Capital, one of Viv’s investors.
Amongst things asked to Viv (and which were executed flawlessly) were the following:
“Send Adam 20 bucks”, “Send my mom some flowers”, “Will it be warmer than 70 degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5PM the day after tomorrow?”
Source: The Verge
