Tech giants like Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Google, Apple, and Amazon are pushing into the lives of ordinary citizens through the launch of innovative digital assistants. Rick Osterloh, Chief of hardware at Google, said the AI-powered devices poses a risk to the intimacy and privacy of users in homes.
Always on smart speakers
The always on AI-powered devices: Smart Speakers could listen to the conversations of guests and record with no knowledge of them. It creates a necessity for the homeowners to inform the guests about the presence of AI-powered devices, and they could record the discussions. There is no way of tracing the recordings by the operators and assist.
Google, Amazon, and Apple are under fire recently on the finding of contractors and employees listening to the conversations of the users. Facebook and Microsoft have also admitted listening to the recorded conversations of the users using smart assistants. The contractors are engaged to enhance AI-powered devices quality and ensure natural speech recognition and interpret shape responses, and direct actions correctly. The feedback is a necessity to improve the services of AI-powered devices for use in real life.
The long-term revenue stream for Google
Pushing of AI-powered devices into homes is a serious revenue for Google. This week, Google announced a lot of digital assistants embedded devices: Pixel Buds 2, Pixel 4, Smart Speakers, and Smart Devices. All these devices do not solve the privacy issues. The users need to switch off the devices to protect their intimacy and privacy. Tech giants have neglected privacy concerns while rolling out AI-powered devices. The use of AI-powered devices could potentially expose business secrets if implemented in offices.
Amazon faces backlash with Alexa
Amazon faced a backlash after revelations of some contractors listening to the user’s private conversations with the help of Alexa. Privacy concerns cast a shadow on the annual product’s launch by Amazon. Alexa helped Amazon in smart speakers to compete with Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. According to the recent sales data, Amazon’s Echo devices account for 70% of the sales of 76 million smart speakers that entered the businesses and homes of the US.
