{"id":2830,"date":"2017-04-07T06:33:37","date_gmt":"2017-04-07T12:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/play.fallows.ca\/wp\/?p=2830"},"modified":"2017-04-06T22:55:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-07T04:55:54","slug":"virtual-assistant-always-listening-good-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play.fallows.ca\/wp\/insights\/virtual-assistant-always-listening-good-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual Assistant Always Listening – The Good Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"virtual<\/a><\/p>\n

Your virtual assistant always listening, always remembering, always on. Alexa and her girlfriends are moving in to your home and office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a recent episode of The Good Fight<\/em>, quirky lawyer Elsbeth demonstrated the perils of her Amazon Echo<\/a>. Ambient conversations with her client got recorded and later subpeanaed by the opposition. Could this happen? Perhaps.<\/p>\n

Consumers around the world are installing a massive audio surveillance system at their own expense. The size and scope of this network will dwarf CCTV surveillance. Siri, Alexa, Cortana,\u00a0and OK Google: we have entered the era of “big sister”. By 2020, something like 10% of households will have a virtual assistant always listening, and nearly a billion voice activated devices of all types will be in use.<\/p>\n

Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple have made major investments in voice-activated artificial intelligence. They all work by capturing audio and sending it to the cloud for processing. The business models differ, but all are making it easy for any OEM to build their service into their products. Here is a list of appliances<\/a>\u00a0already using Alexa.<\/p>\n

Products like Echo capture an ongoing sixty second buffer of sound which is stored in the device. After receiving a “wake command”, Echo sends your inquiry to the cloud together with the background buffer. Then, the AI tries to figure out what you want and respond.<\/p>\n

Star Trek Virtual Assistant Always Listening<\/h2>\n

We have been watching Star Trek characters talk to computers<\/a> since the 1960’s. It always seemed benevolent and useful. Amazon even allows you to use “Computer” as the wake command.<\/p>\n

Alexa is Amazon’s technology under the hood. The company makes strong claims about protecting your privacy. But here are a few things to keep in mind about Alexa and her girlfriends:<\/p>\n