IDG Contributor Network: Target's voice-recognition effort: How natural does natural language have to be?

Target has started toying with a voice-recognition device, positioned to compete against Amazon's Alexa, said The Chicago Tribune. The issue is seeing how far Target can push natural language comprehension. This, however, is a misunderstanding of the allure of Alexa and Apple's Siri, as well as how shoppers think and communicate.

The consumer attraction to Alexa and Siri involves proximity. In other words, in the normal lives of these consumers, these always-listening devices are right next to them. Indeed, Siri will always be as close as a user's phone, which is going to be really close an awful lot of the time. By the way, the ability of these devices to snap to life when you say their magic phrase means that they are constantly listening to you. No, that's not creepy at all. Can't think of any potential for massive privacy invasion there.

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