AI Weekly: Amazon, Facebook and Google fight scandals and sell smart screens



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The artificial intelligence assistants of Facebook, Google and Amazon have recently had a busy week. Each of these companies has begun to roll out the new category of smart display devices with wizards in artificial intelligence, speakers and screen.

The very week that a new wave of Echo devices appeared on the market, like Echo Dot and Echo Show, Google launched the Home Hub, Pixel 3, Pixel Stand and Pixel Slate.

Oh and Facebook have deployed Portal and Portal + for video chat with Facebook Messenger and Alexa.

What is absolutely astonishing and inevitable is that, even if each story unfolds and the tech giants come to you, perpendicular events have occurred that might lead you to wonder whether these companies can protect your privacy or if you can trust them.

A reasonable person could have watched Facebook on Monday and made fun of the tailor to deploy a video chat device at home just days after leaving 50 million vulnerable user accounts and 30 million personal data. stolen users. close Google+ one day before its hardware event. And one day before Echo Show and Echo Dot were on the market, we discovered that Amazon was using an algorithm in its recruiting and recruiting processes that penalized applications containing "women" for years.

It's really hard to measure the impact of this sort of thing on adoption rates, but it reminds us of a PricewaterhouseCoopers poll released earlier this year that revealed that almost 10% of people had no smart speakers for privacy reasons.

Anyone reading this article has probably spoken to a family member or friend who refuses to use a smart speaker for these reasons, but there does not seem to be a revolt going on. Sales of smart speakers have been steadily increasing for some time now, and it does not seem like this week will change that. But the constant concern about how they are perceived could hinder innovation.

Consumer concerns over privacy have led Facebook to limit Portal's initial use cases, thereby keeping much of its knowledge of your social life. This is probably why Portal did not debut with facial recognition software, as originally announced.

This is also why Google says that the main hub has no camera; However, I think this story has more to do.

Trust or desire to be trusted will shape some parts of these devices, because these companies must convince the world not only that they sell more than a smart speaker with a display, but that they can make trust.

The latest technology and artificial intelligence solutions, as well as video partners such as Hulu, will certainly help to increase the adoption of artificial intelligence assistants, but trust is also a necessary ingredient . This seems to be necessary for more experimentation and better experiences and could play a role in determining whether people can leave them at home.

For AI coverage, send tips to Kyle Wiggers and Khari Johnson – and make sure to mark our AI channel.

Thank you for reading,

Khari Johnson
AI Editor

P.S. Enjoy this YouTube video of Berkeley's AI researchers on AI acrobatics training from YouTube videos. You can read more in this article by VB on the newspaper published Tuesday.

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