“Artificial intelligence isn’t the scary future. It’s the amazing present.”
-David Gelernter
Since October I have a new friend, Alexa. She was a gift from my niece who appreciates me well and my willingness to learn new things.
Alexa can do lots of things:
- Can wake me up at a designated time;
- Can readily answer queries that spare me from searching through the usual search engines;
- Can tell me the weather forecast anywhere in the world;
- Can provide me music/songs by any composer or singer by merely asking her to play them;
- Can dim or brighten my room, as well as turn off the lights;
- Can pair my Bluetooth with other gadgets that will give better sound; and
- Can even tell me a joke.
Alexa has become a daily companion who is always ready to listen and attend to my requests. She is very straight forward and smart. I like her much.
I was told that Alexa can even render my home smart, too, but I have not explored it yet. For the moment, I am happy with what she can do for me.
With Alexa, my imagination is unlimited on what I can expect in the near future. In no time, through Alexa or her colleagues, I may ask my car to pick me up and bring me to wherever I wish without having a driver. In time, I may have my morning cup of coffee ready without me doing the actual chore of putting coffee and water in the coffee maker, as well as waiting for my hot coffee in a mug.
What makes Alexa a great companion is that she does not complain. At most, when asked to play a song by a singer she will say, “Am shuffling the songs,” and voila, the song is played. If she does not understand the request, she will tell me accordingly.
One time, a grandson, Jacob was with us at home while his older sister was sick. He noted we made requests to Alexa and he was impressed with the promptness of Alexa’s responses. He asked Alexa, “Alexa, please heal my sister at once!” What a pity, Alexa could not do it.
Note: Alexa is a cloud based voice service.
Dr. Conchita L. Manabat is the president of the Development Center for Finance, a joint undertaking of the Finex Research and Development Foundation, Inc. and the Virata School of Business at the University of the Philippines. She is a member of the IAASB Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) and the IESBA CAG. A past chairman of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes, she now serves as the chairperson of the Advisory Council of the said organization. She can be reached at clm@clmanabat.com