Whether they are in the form of a speaker, screen or mini box, voice assistants have the answer to almost everything! These connected objects that obey the voice provide valuable daily services. And there are at all prices!
“How long does it take for a soft-boiled egg?” “,” How old is Emmanuel Macron? »,« Will it snow tomorrow? “,” What is the capital of Sweden? »… No matter what area a question is spoken out loud, voice assistants are quick to provide you with an answer. Previously nested in smartphones, they have since emancipated themselves. They took their ease to interfere in the heart of the house within small boxes lined with microphones to better hear your requests, speakers to answer you or play music and sometimes even a screen, history to join the image to the sound.
Three tech greats occupy the field of voice assistants: Amazon with its Alexa assistant and its range of Echo devices, Google with Google Assistant nestled in Nest boxes, and finally Apple with Siri installed in HomePods. With the exception of Siri which remains exclusive to the Apple universe, we sometimes find Google Assistant, sometimes Alexa, and sometimes even both simultaneously, present in speakers or screens connected to other manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, JBL or even Bose to name a few.
To work, these voice assistants only need three things. First of all, a power supply: none works on battery, unlike portable Bluetooth speakers with which they are sometimes confused. Then, they all require a connection to the Internet through a Wi-Fi network. It is indeed from the Web that they derive all their knowledge and it is thanks to it that they can broadcast audio or video content. Finally, they must be linked to an account with the service provider. Don’t expect to call on Alexa without associating it with an Amazon account, use Google Assistant without a Google account, or solicit Siri without an iCloud account.
In addition to the more or less complex questions that can be submitted to them on a daily basis, voice assistants can also serve as an interface to carry out other tasks. You can ask them to listen to a radio station, broadcast a music playlist, display a video of a cooking recipe, etc. They also acclimatize to other connected objects in the house. They can manage connected sockets, smart bulb systems like Philips Hue for example, thermostats for heating, roller shutters, etc. All you have to do is ask them aloud “Turn on the living room lamp” for the magic to work. In order for them to recognize an order, however, they must first be called out with the now famous injunctions: “Alexa”, “OK Google” and “Hey Siri”. It is thanks to these keywords that the devices activate and listen to you. This also means that they are always on standby, on the lookout for everything that is happening around them. Enough to easily feel spied on. But rest assured, it is fortunately possible to manually mute their microphones and their camera (for those who are equipped). In addition, each stated order gives the right to an analysis by an artificial intelligence which will dissect the purpose of the request to provide the best response. By the way, the data collected also feeds the knowledge base of the service, which will better identify your needs as you use it to better anticipate them later. All requests made aloud through voice assistants recorded in a history on Amazon, Google and Apple servers. It is of course possible to delete this history to regain a little confidentiality.