{"id":350550,"date":"2021-10-09T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-09T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/maybe-alexa-and-google-assistant-shouldnt-get-better-at-understanding-you-review-geek\/"},"modified":"2021-10-09T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T13:00:00","slug":"maybe-alexa-and-google-assistant-shouldnt-get-better-at-understanding-you-review-geek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/maybe-alexa-and-google-assistant-shouldnt-get-better-at-understanding-you-review-geek\/","title":{"rendered":"#Maybe Alexa and Google Assistant Shouldn\u2019t Get Better at Understanding You \u2013 Review Geek"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c6e1321b81\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c6e1321b81\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/maybe-alexa-and-google-assistant-shouldnt-get-better-at-understanding-you-review-geek\/#How_Are_Tech_Companies_Trying_to_Improve_Things\" >How Are Tech Companies Trying to Improve Things?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/maybe-alexa-and-google-assistant-shouldnt-get-better-at-understanding-you-review-geek\/#So_Why_Might_This_Be_a_Bad_Thing\" >So, Why Might This Be a Bad Thing?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#Maybe Alexa and Google Assistant Shouldn\u2019t Get Better at Understanding You \u2013 Review Geek&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content-area\">\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1919px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-99934 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/7a558031.jpg?width=400 400w, https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/7a558031.jpg?width=1200 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/7a558031.jpg?width=1200\" alt=\"An Android phone with Google Assistant on the screen.\" width=\"1919\" height=\"1080\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/jakarta-indonesia-june-1-2019-use-1412676434\" data-credittext=\"Lukmanazis \/ Shutterstock.com\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/jakarta-indonesia-june-1-2019-use-1412676434\">Lukmanazis \/ Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Voice assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa are part of everyday life. They\u2019re on phones, laptops, walls,\u00a0and control smart homes. But they can be difficult to use, especially for anyone that speaks \u201cnonstandard\u201d English. Compies are trying to fix that problem, but what if that\u2019s a bad thing?<\/p>\n<p>By making voice assistants in smart homes and on smartphones easier to use, companies may actually be decreasing their users\u2019 ability to function in the wider world. There are around 1.35 billion English speakers globally, of which 400 million\u00a0are \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/First_language\">native speakers<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s safe to assume <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roximately 2\/3 of English speakers have some degree of accent purely because it is not their first language. Then with the 400 million people who speak English as a first language, you have multiple national accents (British, Canadian, American, Australian, et al.). In each country, you have regional dialects and so forth.<\/p>\n<p>If companies were to pick and perfect a single dialect, say American Standard English, their product would only be usable by a tiny fraction of English speakers. Conversely, if they go too far, they could rob people of what could be a very useful tool for developing their communication skills.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Are_Tech_Companies_Trying_to_Improve_Things\"><\/span>How Are Tech Companies Trying to Improve Things?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-99942 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/62df84ed.jpg\" alt=\"A woman talking to an Amazon Echo dot while frowning.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/girl-smiling-talking-alexa-mosterton-on-1677489508\" data-credittext=\"Tyler Nottley \/ Shutterstock.com\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/girl-smiling-talking-alexa-mosterton-on-1677489508\">Tyler Nottley \/ Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Voice assistants have been working to better understand their users\u2019 commands for as long as they have existed. Microsoft, Apple,\u00a0 Google, and Amazon are amongst the big names that have pumped a ton of resources into their respective voice assistants and want to make them as accessible and frustration-free for as many people as possible.<\/p>\n<p>This has involved\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/07\/26\/world\/australia\/amazon-australian-english-speakers.html?tag=reviewgeek-20\">hiring people with particular accents<\/a> to record hundreds of voice commands and conversations, which can then be used to teach AI dialects. During one of my leaner months, I decided to cash in on my sexy Northern accent and spent hours recording hundreds of seemingly random words and phrases for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/appen.com\/\">a company called Appen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That company then took my recordings and sent them off to Amazon, Google, Microsoft, or whoever else was paying them. The voice snippets are then theoretically used to improve whatever AI the company that bought them is developing.<\/p>\n<p>Some voice assistants <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/235916\/how-to-improve-your-amazon-echo-experience-by-training-it-to-your-voice\/?tag=reviewgeek-20\">can even be trained<\/a>\u00a0to understand better the exact voice of the person using it. Unlike waiting for big tech to up their <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>, this produces im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>te results and can help your voice assistant\u2019s accuracy significantly. It also allows multiple users to access their smart home profiles without having to switch manually.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"So_Why_Might_This_Be_a_Bad_Thing\"><\/span>So, Why Might This Be a Bad Thing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-99945 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/a1936835.jpg\" alt=\"An Amazon Echo on a living room coffee table.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/barcelona-july-2018-amazon-echo-smart-1127033597?tag=reviewgeek-20\" data-credittext=\"Juan Ci \/ Shutterstock.com\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/barcelona-july-2018-amazon-echo-smart-1127033597?tag=reviewgeek-20\">Juan Ci \/ Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I might get away with saying: \u201cAlexer, serruz an alarm for eight o clock tomorrer will yer,\u201d but trying to request songs is where the struggle really begins. It took around three months of communicating with Amazon Music and a few thousand frustrated expletives, but I can now say \u201cplay Happy Hour by The Housemartins\u201d as clearly as a 1980s BBC <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>reader. There are still occasions when I ask\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/A9_ffgwLVCs\">for Paul Weller<\/a> and somehow <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Oye90o2glVM\">end up with Ella Fitzgerald<\/a>, but there\u2019s always room to improve.<\/p>\n<p>The silver lining that has come with the accent struggles is the fact my English has improved. I can now communicate more clearly than ever before. This is useful because <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> may improve to the point the AI on my smartphone can understand me\u2014but that won\u2019t do me much good when I\u2019m using said phone to talk to another human being.<\/p>\n<p>Another benefit is I haven\u2019t utterly butchered my accent in the process. If I\u2019d opted to shell out for elocution lessons instead, I might be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PcIX-U5w5Ws\">rattling off sentences in received pronunciation<\/a>. Identity is important; accents are an important part of someone\u2019s culture and background.<\/p>\n<p>The United Kingdom, for example, has a distinct accent every few miles. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-66119b0a93679e2b05b4d236013ac290\">There\u2019s a map that has been flying around the internet for a few years<\/a> that looks extensive but still barely scratches the surface. A tiny part of the North East is labeled as having a \u201cTeesside\u201d accent, but the natives of each town in that area (Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton, and Billingham) all speak differently.<\/p>\n<p>Now imagine the variations in a county the size of Yorkshire. People also tend to identify with where they\u2019re from and preserve a lot of their culture. Accents are a large part of that; not everyone wants to sound like Hugh Grant. We may have been spoiled in recent years, as many people are now happy to sit back and wait for technology to make up for their shortcomings\u2014and in a lot of cases, it will do just that. But sometimes, meeting tech in the middle is both quicker and better in the long run.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Voice assistants do need to be made accessible to as many people as possible. If you had to speak in perfect received pronunciation before Siri would give you the time of day, one of Apple\u2019s most significant successes would be useless to over 99.9% of English speakers.<\/p>\n<p>Even something like a standard American accent would rule out the majority of users in the United States, never mind worldwide. Hence, it\u2019s obvious why companies are putting a lot of effort into teaching their software to understand as many dialects as they possibly can. And so they should. But they should only go so far.<\/p>\n<p>It would be better if Apple, Google, et al. avoid adopting a perfectionist mentality and instead just aim for a standard that allows for accessibility but still requires a bit of care on the users\u2019 part. On a personal note, Alexa\u2019s unwillingness to listen to anything beyond clear speech forced me to think about how I pronounce things.<\/p>\n<p>My speech is undoubtedly clearer than before I had to deal with a voice assistant multiple times a day. It wasn\u2019t something I set out to do; it was an unintended and very beneficial side-effect\u2014and if it worked for me, it might work for other people, too.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\nsetTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('init', '1137093656460433');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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They\u2019re on phones, laptops, walls,\u00a0and control smart homes. But they can be difficult to use, especially for anyone that speaks \u201cnonstandard\u201d English. Compies are trying&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":350551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2021\/10\/7a558031.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}