Category: Tech

Voice Assistant Technology had a market of its own even before the pandemic hit. Covid-19 and the fear that comes with it have just acted as a catalyst in the adaptation process and radically reshaped consumers’ choices. If we go back to 2019, we see that home and voice-connected devices were moving towards becoming consumers’ commerce command focus. The trend revolves around millennials who own six devices run on voice assistants except for their phones, and over 31% seem to have made purchases using these devices.

With these numbers, we can deduce that the world was already moving towards a more Voice technology and AI-led market before ‘Global Pandemic’ shook our lives. Since the pandemic hit, consumers’ lives have been radically digitalized across all forums, including entertainment, shopping, work, health consultation, and F&B. it is highly likely that most businesses will stick to a more Voice tech-driven service even after things go back to normal. It has also increased the ease of doing business and eradicated the need to micromanage at many fronts.

When we look at the intersection between consumers who had already started interacting with voice assistants before the pandemic struck and those who plan to stick with a fundamentally digital lifestyle post the pandemic, we start seeing the significant opportunities for a voice technology-led commerce ecosystem. It’s an enhancement that is already visible across global consumer data and in the evolving upturns and cases of extended use for voice-enabled commerce technology.

Frequent Chatting with AI

Consumers staying back at home with considerably reduced avenues for conversations with their peers or friends have begun talking to their smart speakers often than usual.

“The number of people who are using voice commands at least once a day rose from 46 percent to 52 percent during the pandemic’s early weeks. ~ According to a report by NPR and Edison Research.”

“A majority of people who were surveyed, approximately 77 percent have said their emblematic routine had changed because of the Pandemic, and almost half of them said that they have been working from home. The report also suggests that the smart speaker ownership has ascended to 4 percent during the era of physical distancing, and that smart speakers with screens embedded (like Alexa Show and Google Nest Hub) have promptly gained popularity.” This is According to The NPR/Edison Smart Audio Report where 1,660 adults were interviewed between March 31 and April 1.

Is Voice AI our new Retail clerk?

According to Jan Kniffen, ‘Voice AI has offered retailers a distinctive solution to the problems pertaining to COVID-19-era. Customers are too worried about having to stand close to each other or interact with staff in physical stores. Voice assistants have presented a path that offers unique physical retail experiences that seem to have been personalized according to the shoppers’ without violating any physical distancing guidelines or encroaching on the consumers’ comfort.’

Amealio’s correctly oriented AI can help consumers find out where they can order food from or where they can dine. It also comes with inbuilt payment options and has made exploring restaurants from the ease of your computer or mobile screens and using voice tech instead of having to search everything manually easier.

Kniffen predicted that “We’re going to see more of what’s happening now, just done better.”

And of late, there is evidence supporting the “done better” mentality and spreading across the voice ecosystem. This is majorly due to various platforms expanding their capabilities. Amazon, for example, has updated Alexa and tried to make its speech sound natural while reading the news. That more realistic voice can help consumers’ get a more personalized feel and help to boost their comfort levels; talking with Alexa has become a frequent occurrence.

Amalgamated with the great digitization tsunami, Amealio is currently trying to break out across the F&B ecosystem. The question is, ‘Will voice-assisted transactions become the preferred method for truly contactless commerce?’ Maybe a familiar voice or touchless payment system is all consumers need to feel comfortable while shopping at stores again.

For most of us, “Hey, Siri, type a message” or “Alexa, play me a song” have come to be everyday phrases as smart speakers and voice assistants have gained popularity. Voice tech and artificial intelligence experts have predicted that consumers will want to issue similar commands in physical spaces if that helps in reducing the spread of the virus.

Darin Clark, director of business development for the audio tech company Sound Hound Inc., has said that “We’ve seen a significant upsurge in companies interested at trying to reduce contact.” Consumers can now use different development platforms to add voice user interfaces to technology. This technology can be used in cars to ovens. This helps companies create user experiences that allow the consumers to place orders, shop, or pay without touching screens or interacting with employees directly.

Voice technology can also be used to recommend brands to shoppers and consumers, give directions around stores,  execute checkouts, place orders, create shopping lists, and more, which potentially reduces the requirement for human interaction in stores as the pandemic has kept safety concerns on top of the minds of the consumers.

Businesses have recently been primarily interested in letting people use voice technology to search their brand catalogs to check for in-store products. Meanwhile, restaurants and hospitality need to rethink integrating voice technology into their in-store, store-front, and drive-through experiences, allowing consumers to place an order without touching any buttons.

Tinglong Dai, an associate professor of operations management and business analytics at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, said that “People are very familiar with voice tech in a consumer setting, but the application for businesses remains limited.” According to him, the most potential obstacle to upscale the usage of voice technology still stands to be the discomfort consumers might face while making the shift. Many consumers prefer human assistance over voice tech assistance in specific spaces, making it a task to increase Voice Tech and AI usage in our day-to-day lives.

People are often found to be most comfortable using voice tech in grocery stores and fast-food restaurants.  A lot of people have been seen getting cozy with conversational AI at restaurants and grocery stores.

The younger generations have adapted to intelligent speakers and conversational AI, but the older peers are yet to get comfortable with it, and soon it will be a natural companion for young and old. The Voice tech companies have been looking to delve deeper into more personalized voice assistants to give consumers a sense of belonging. The pandemic has exposed many of us to alienation, and the need for a customized assistant and personalized experience is at an all-time high. Amealio is bridging the gap between consumers and Voice AI  for F&B and Hospitality and transforming it into a hyper-personalized experience marketplace, making ordering in, making a request, seating, dining, and ordering to payment out more feasible and seamlessly accessible.

Now that F&B and Hospitality in the US and many other places are coming back up in a V-shaped recovery model, they are looking to move forward quickly amidst the pandemic and create tremendous value for their brands and newer customer engagement models. The bottom line remains that the move to voice AI and blend of technology is inevitable and the only way forward from here on.

How do you react when you’re happy? You want to share it with others, don’t you? Similarly, when something upsets you or you’re in need, you want to be heard and helped. We as humans tend to rely on people around us for support but how often, do we receive what we’re looking for? The need today is beyond understanding another person’s suffering, it is about talking initiative and extending a hand. No change in history took place without a revolution, just in case you were wondering why we wanted to revolutionize Empathy. This need to socialize in a certain way is an ingrained human trait. Helping our community gives us a sense of belonging. When you see people sleep on the streets or eat out of trash cans, doesn’t it make you appreciate what you have, more? What we’re trying to shed some light on is that, apart from appreciating what we have, we also need to share it. Giving back to the community can’t just be an occasional occurrence but it is a way of life.

Why is it so important to give back to the society/community?

What is life about? Aren’t we always trying to find meaning in life? How do we find ‘meaning’ in life? Ever had these questions troubling you? Well, you are not alone. At Amealio, when we are trying to bring food to you at your convenience, we also understand that there are many who can’t afford food. Isn’t giving back to that brethren a worthy thing to do? The secret mantra to a happy life is understanding that, ‘living is giving’. Meaning in life can’t be equated with what you have or what you get, it is always about what you give.

How can you give back to the society/community?

• Find your purpose: When we ask you to find your purpose, we aren’t just asking you to look for what makes you happy but what gives your life a meaning. One might say, performing well at my job or making more money makes me happy but dig a little deeper. What gives you actual fulfillment? When you get a raise at work, don’t you want to share it with your loved ones? One almost always wants to share food but would you like to share it with someone who can’t afford to give you back? Through Amealio, we try to help you reach out to the needy. When you refer a friend/family of yours, we contribute Rs 50 to people in need. It isn’t humanly possible to help everyone, but our team of driven professionals is happier than ever help you spread the joy. This way, you are also making a difference in the lives of those who don’t share the same fortune as you.
•  A small start but an early start:You can’tkeep waitingto help people in need and you can’t eradicate poverty alone. What one needs to help and give back is to start today! It can be as small as one time’s meal for someone. Have you ever wondered why you haven’t started giving back already? Is it because you feel you don’t have enough money or time? Well, how much is enough? The deficiency isn’t in resources but in resourcefulness. We can’t emphasize enough on the fact that, ‘giving back is a way of life’. If you keep waiting for the right time to create a difference, you might end up not creating any.
• Understand the importance of the Ripple effect: Have you ever thought what makes people we idolize so special? What is one similarity amongst Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rolling, Serena Williams, Mother Teresa, and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam? They all gave back to the society in whichever way they could. They changed millions of lives. Now, you ripple doesn’t have to be that big, but you can certainly change one life. Once you start a life of giving back, you’ll notice that people around you also want to give back. Positive changes run in chains, it’s like a ripple effect.

• Finding the right fit: Do you like wearing clothes that aren’t the right size? Would you like a chair that isn’t comfortable? Can you contribute back to the society like everyone else? The answer to all these questions is a big ‘No’! Finding the balance between what you are passionate about and how that can be converted into meeting a need is true Avant-Garde. A lot of us visit Old Age Homes because, well, it’s what a lot of others are doing, but do you actually invest your time and energy into understanding the needs of the elderly? One must find ways of giving back that fir their ideals and not just make empathy about spare change.
• Your life is your biggest resource, embrace it: If you think that only heroes help others, you have limited your mind. No one can take away that individual glimmer off you. The idea of giving back isn’t only benefitting people at the receiving end of it but also give you a sense of personal fulfillment. You are your own resource and what you do defines you and not the other way around.

Giving back can’t be something you did because someone told you or because it made sense at a certain point of time. It is a process, one which involves a lot of self-growth on your part as well. If you can’t help monetarily, you can always run awareness campaigns; online and offline because if you’re reading this, you already have access to more than 30% people around the globe. Amealio has also partnered with NGOs and if any of the communities we work with interest you, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re all here to find that bigger fulfillment and why should anyone be left behind? A little of your time and effort can change another person’s whole life around. What is stopping you from taking that leap?

Companies are adapting to voice technologies for better business and aiming at reaching out to millions of people in the next decade. Have you ever wondered what impact it will create in our lives?

The impact of any technology on the shared future of humans can’t be understood upon looking at it in isolation. One needs to see changing behavioral patterns to understand the same. As they say, ‘Necessity is the mother of all inventions’, that’s true for everything humans adapt to. A lot of our inherent needs and values have stood the test of time and the only thing that has changed is how we address it. The ease of doing or getting things done, socializing, leisure, and security aspects are a few things that we all have similar stands on. These unchanging needs are parameters on which we assess the impact of emerging technologies. Here are a few factors on which voice technology can be assessed.

Meaning and Personalization:

The most important factors to understand how voice technology impacts our lives are; personalization and meaning. The idea of being served with objects and experiences that are a tailored fit for us is what most of us desire. Voice technologies have been working on unlocking ways to address the need for personalization. With Amealio, we’re aiming at giving you a personalized dining experience, wherever you want and in lesser time than expected.

Another important aspect of Voice technology is unlocking ways to serve the need for meaningful relationships. These aspects can be understood better in phases, such as simple personalization, advanced personalization, and a quest for meaning. These stages together make up for the changed relationship with AI fueled digital voice technologies. From asking Alexa/Siri to order you some Diet Coke to transacting into a relationship that inculcates the desire for self-knowledge and meaningful relationships, Voice Technology has emerged as a phoenix that rises from its own ashes.  To understand things better, let’s look at these stages closely.

• Simple Personalization:

The story of digital personalization can’t be narrated without that of data fueled personalization. What you search for makes up for most of your likes/dislikes. These search histories are used to advertise products or services that you might be interested in. AI fueled voice digital assistants is an extension to this kind of personalization. This kind of personalization also raises security concerns but a study by Accenture Interactive found out that 83% people are willing to share their data for a personalized experience as long as the companies are transparent about how the data will be used. Amealio uses your previous food preferences to help you pick out places to eat out at or pick up food from without taking much of your time. Even if you’re a first-time user, your food preferences and dining out options can be amalgamated without much work from your end.

• Advanced Personalization:

With the evolution of voice assistants, the kind of personalization they offer becomes more complex. This can involve the emotional state of the user and revolving around metrics of well-being. The voice assistants can be used to remind the user about his/her medicines, exercise schedule or to simply hydrate at times. These devices can be linked with the smart watches to administer health conditions of the user at all times. The sensors that come with Voice assistant devices can detect heart rates and alert user about the abnormality. Advanced personalization also includes changing the tone of voice. This can be achieved via data on emotional state of user, which is gained through facial expressions or voice recognition. These assistants can be really beneficial in more ways than we know. For example, an in-car voice assistant suggesting some soothing music because it sensed that the driver was stressing due to traffic.

• The pursuit of Meaning:

These AI-backed Voice Assistants have taken over more complex and personalized tasks over time. The advent of such features changes the relationship that the device shares with the user. The user starts seeing it as a counsellor or companions. A very good example of such transition are applications that are used to help user cope up with their mental health issues. A lot of such applications are free of cost and help you identify things like; causes of anxiety, what triggered it, which activity helps an individual, etc. These AI-fueled voice technologies run mental health assistants can help deliver a cognitive behavioral therapy to users when they can’t access a therapist. These assistants might not be able to solve the problem but can reduce the risk of self-harm amongst people who deal with depression. Apart from this, a lot companies are also aiming at creating voice assistants that can be used as conversational companions. It reads the users personality and preferences over time and helps users gain new self-insight. We all want a counsellor or Guru at all times, to guide us and help us with life changing advices. Ever wondered if AI-fueled voice assistants are your very own gurus or therapists? The desirability, adaptation and impact of voice technologies speak for themselves.

The future seems to have adapted to advanced personalization and meaningful relationships. They appear to be opportunities but also come with risks of data misuse. Another dimension here is that personalization around age and gender can increase risks of consolidating stereotypes. The tussle between new technology and human nature isn’t new. What needs further work is the development of frameworks of education and governance. Upon achieving this, we might have unlocked one of the best ways to use AI-fueled voice assistants to our discretion.