Brooke wanted a dollhouse and some sugar cookies. So the 6-year-old asked Alexa to get them. Alexa wasn't her mom or babysitter. It was a voice-activated home assistant powered by AI (人工智能). And it made Brooke's wishes come true. A few days later, much to her parents' surprise, a $170 dollhouse and four pounds of cookies showed up. They ate the cookies and gave away the dollhouse to a local hospital. And that's not the end of the story. When a news reporter told the story of what happened on TV, Alexa devices (设备) in many listeners' homes woke up and tried to order dollhouses!
Alexa isn't the only AI willing to serve you. Apple Home Pod has Siri, Google Home has its Assistant, and the upcoming Galaxy Home device will have Bixby. People who have these devices use them mainly for listening to music, checking the weather, and setting timers. According to a report from The Information, nowadays voice shopping is rare. But many scientists predict a boom (增长) in voice shopping in the near future. Is that a good thing?
▲ You can shout out an order as soon as you think of it, even if you are cooking, cleaning, or driving. In addition, people with disabilities who are unable to use a keyboard or mouse can shop without any help.
But voice shopping has its disadvantages. Unwanted dollhouses aren't the biggest problem. It's usually very easy to cancel an order or return products. The thing that worries some people is that these assistants are always listening. They have to be able to respond when you want them. So they listen for "Alexa" or "OK Google" or another order. When they hear it, they start recording the conversation. Some have worried about what happens shopping habits? And what if someone hacks (入侵) the device? The CIA found a way to hack smart TVs to turn them into spies that listen all the time. Others could do the same with any smart device.
What do you think? Are you ready to start voice shopping?
