On a sleepless night, I was playing with my iPhone and accidentally activated Siri. I never use Siri but I was bored and the screen had a couple of suggestions, one of them being something like "Is my daughter home". Puzzled about what that could possibly make Siri do (I don't have a daughter), I asked her that. Excited about the sudden attention, Siri decided to call a person in my contacts, a guy that I barely know and only spoke with years ago. Panicking, I pressed the home button instead of hanging up immediately, so the call probably went through, possibly waking him up in the middle of the night. I never heard from him so I don't know. But the experience was rather unpleasant.<p>I think the demos in this video look neat but I don't see myself using AI for anything that I have to rely on any time soon. I would constantly feel the need to double check it anyway.
After 5 seconds I thought the video was an ironic comment on our culture of constant interruption but it's not.<p>You have to put a lot of faith into that software if you actually use it while driving because checking if the answer is correctly chosen with the phone hanging over the wheel is a big no-no in my driver's book (it does beat actually typing out the message with one hand but that is already an even bigger no-no).<p>Semi-automatic voice activated replies is something I'd like to try out to see how it feels though. I am curious how the experience would work out considering I am more of pushing buttons guy.
Interesting concept. I did sign up to test it out. However, I think that voice control is not practical with the amount of email we receive on daily basis. Some people will receive more than 100 messages per day that needs to be answered and a voice activated software will not cut it.<p>However, looking beyond this challenge, the idea is still cool and having an AI assistant to sort out your inbox will be certainly a breakthrough technology. Besides web, email is perhaps one of the greatest innovations of the 20th century but it needs to be brought in the 21st, i.e Email 2.0.
If the makers of this software are on HN, I am quadriplegic and this would make my life about 333.25% easier. For realz. Seriously though, if I could navigate my email with my voice that would totally negate any accessibility issues I have with email clients.<p>I can use email fairly successfully, Siri does a pretty good job but if this works as advertised I would definitely love to try it.<p>Thanks.
Do I have to keep the phone unlocked and the app open to have the kind of experience demonstrated in the video? If that's the case, given the kind of batteries in the smartphones, the fun won't last very long. I can keep it connected in my office, I believe.<p>Does it work with handsfree?
I have been thinking recently about hiring an assistant, and this solves one of the main reasons why. Working with dictation to send e-mail allows for a different kind of tab-less focus, and makes it easier to deal with one mail at a time. When I have too much to do, forty e-mails that need thought and replies feels like too much work, so I do something else, and then the problem gets worse. It also allows for you to work on e-mails while standing up from your computer for a moment, which is recommended for health. I think it's very valuable, and I look forward to receiving my invitation.
These look great in a video but good luck having a pleasant experience actually using it.<p>Companies like to pretend that they have some magic AI that makes things just work but we simply aren't there yet, and far from it.
That looks neat in a video. But as the person that receives the email, I would not feel valued at all by the thought that Joe doesn't even take the time to reply but instead lets a robot reply for him.<p>If you don't want to take the time to reply, then don't bother sending me anything at all. And it's not about having a crazy schedule. We have time. In fact, we have more time than ever before because robots already automate repetitive tasks. But a human interaction is not a repetitive task IMO.
The one thing that absolutely keeps me from using most of these services SIRI, Now etc...to their fullest is the voice commands. Not because they aren't up to the task, which they often aren't, but because I don't want to announce everything I am doing to the world.<p>This takes that to even another level of 'nope' for me by reading my emails aloud to whoever is around. The video example is exactly the stuff that I wouldn't want other people hearing.
Here is is TC's take on the subject: <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/27/robin-labs-launches-less-mail-an-a-i-based-assistant-that-responds-to-emails-for-you/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/27/robin-labs-launches-less-ma...</a>
Now on Gizmodo: <a href="http://gizmodo.com/would-you-let-this-ai-app-answer-your-email-for-you-1651345918" rel="nofollow">http://gizmodo.com/would-you-let-this-ai-app-answer-your-ema...</a>
this looks awesome, but how do you deal with noise? If the use case is being able to process email when not explicitly doing that task, wouldnt it essentially be when you're waiting for the train or playing with kids or even around a noisy office?<p>I have a tough enough time with IVR systems today because of my kids talking in the background that I have to switch to touch tone mode.<p>How does this work in the real world?
What's up with that specific kind of really upbeat music in promotional videos for IT gadgets and software? Everyone uses the same jingle composer/ukulele player?