
Ask HN: What do you wish digital assistants (Siri, Alexa, etc.) could do? - raybb
I mostly use Allo&#x2F;Google Now but I&#x27;ve spent time playing with Cortana and Siri as well.
Some random things I wish they could do include:
Tell me when the high&#x2F;low tides will be.
Do things at a later time (tomorrow at 5 message Jack to bring the frisbee)
Of course we&#x27;d all like a good API to make our own stuff.<p>What would you want the assistants to do that would make them more helpful?
======
jjcm
More open/extensible APIs. I want to be able to register my own actions with
them with ease. Right now Alexa seems to be the most flexible, but even then
you gotta do some serious hacking to get it to work.

Another thing I was working on at Microsoft back in the day was contextual
deep voice search mixed with touch. Essentially the UI pattern was tap and
hold on an app, then speak. The voice command would be sent directly to the
app itself so you could have it be recognized by it. Example: hold your finger
on the pictures app and say, "show me Mike". It'd then bring up pictures of
Mike.

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flipactual
I would like to be able to tell any digital assistant enabled device in my
home to "play latest episode of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on the
living room TV" and have it work. I feel like that's a very simple, minimal
viable product, sort of request. Siri responds with "Hmm, I'm not finding
anything for that."

I'd also like to be able to ask "How many steps have I taken today?" Siri
responds with "I can't answer that on your iPhone but you can find it in the
Health app: Open the Health app"

This may feel like a big ask considering the majority of the basics aren't
covered on the platform I'm using, but compound questions would be wonderful –
"show me the thirty largest US cities" "remove any that do not have a moderate
climate" "which one has the lowest cost of living?"

If platforms already provide these services and I'm simply using the wrong one
– oops.

~~~
yladiz
I think the health one is just Apple being conservative when it comes to
health data. I'm sure it's on purpose that they don't let the Health app talk
to Siri directly.

However, it would be nice if you could tell Siri to play an episode of a show
on a specific TV, but I think they would want you to have an Apple TV for
every TV in your home, not just one to control all of the TVs.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
"Siri, close [app name]" "Siri, open Google Maps and show a route to
[location]"

"Hey Siri" on the Mac would be good. So would more interaction between devices
- so I could set up an alarm on one particular device from any other device.

Cloud things are still clumsy from that POV. A lot more could be integrated.

My biggest (minor) annoyance is not being able to toggle switches.

I can say "Alexa, lights on" and "Alexa, lights off".

But I can't just say "Alexa, lights" and have the app read the current state
and flip it - which is annoying because it would be efficient and useful, but
also because it's so close, and yet so far, from living in a Star Trek TNG
episode.

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bsenftner
A conversation should be able to establish a "Reference", as in a "frame of
reference", and from that establishment a context for use of in-context words
in the conversation. This would be similar to launching an app on the desktop,
with the difference here being new audio cues and the end-user being able to
use in-context technical or slang language in their vocal commands to the
digital assistant. End-users should be able to create and package Frames of
Reference and then share them, establishing shared communications (technical
jargon, slang) within end-user communities. These Frames of Reference are
additionally, and quite simply, Internet Of Things submissions that end-users
personalize to their specific devices and interests. This effectively makes
the voice enabled digital assistant the UI for the Internet of Things. I could
even see the popularity of given Frames of Reference being proxies for
marketing demographics.

------
remir
Things an actual assistant could do, like call XYZ to make an appointment on
my behalf. Find the best price for my car insurance. Send flowers to my wife.
Find tickets for an event.

~~~
JaumeGreen
Plan a retreat for me and my S.O. without me telling it, checking for
approval, while checking both agendas for availability.

------
krautjakob
I'd be happy if Siri were finally able to understand a proper sentence at
least most of the time. That would be helpful.

~~~
canuckintime
It's odd that you still can't directly type to Siri, even on the Mac. (You can
indirectly type by 'editing' a previous voice query).

The compeitors: Cortana accepts both voice and text input. Google Now/Allo
does too (although the new Assistant in the Pixel is only voice though). Alexa
is only voice.

~~~
pdq
If you click on your incorrect voice command, Siri has a "tap to edit" link,
where you can correct in text and re-execute the command.

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johnchristopher
I whish Internet access wasn't needed for basic tasks like "play that song".

~~~
raybb
I agree. Even something like a "note to self" command requires internet for
Google Now.

~~~
CmdrSprinkles
Google are increasingly adding offline commands

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devilsavocado
I wish it was easier to correct mistakes. Most of the time the voice
recognition will only get a single word wrong, yet you need to repeat the
entire question or instruction. If Siri interprets "how many pounds is 70
kilograms?" As "how many pounds is 17 kilograms?" Then I should just be able
to say "no, 70" and have it corrected.

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Linell
I really wish that Alexa could handle push notifications. "Your order is
leaving Domino's Pizza now" would be great.

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richardboegli
Be completely open source so that you could control the privacy of it.

Completely offline with local processing on the device of choice.

~~~
walterbell
Protonet Zoe is trying to serve this market:

[https://experimental-platform.github.io](https://experimental-
platform.github.io)

[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protonet-zoe-start-
your-s...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protonet-zoe-start-your-secure-
smart-home-now/)

------
adiabatty
Control which gizmo handles the command when more than one are in earshot. I'd
like to say "Hey champ, …" to get my phone to do something and "hey blew, …"
to get my iPad to do something.

I'd also like to be able to control the auto-lock duration by voice; I don't
want my iPad falling asleep when I'm not touching it in the kitchen.

Oh, and I'd like a way to get better directions information from it. Questions
like "what exit do I take to get to [sporting goods store]?" would be nice to
handle; occasionally I'll need computer assistance for only a tiny leg of the
trip, and I'll want to minimize my reliance on a computer's instruction as
little as possible.

------
tomjen3
Let me add commands myself. Yes I want to be able to say "computer turn on the
light" and imagine I am on DS9, but more practically I need that to free my
smartphone from my hands, which is needed as a driver.

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Eridrus
Control my TV, Roku and sound bar so that I never have to look for the damn
remote or open the Roku app again.

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jayajay
In the next 5-20 years, I think "programming and IOT without screens" will
allow pretty much anyone to do a lot of useful stuff on the computer without
actually being present at one, or knowing the exact technical syntax for how
to do it.

"Please analyze the traffic from Y and let me know if there's any anomalous
traffic regarding ISIS" \--anyone

"Please start a server on local port 8080 from my computer and serve all of my
birthday pictures from when I was 10 until 20, and then download the files
from my phone and save it into a new album called 'Birthday Teens'" \--anyone
who knows what a server is

"Please transfer the files from my computer in directory X to my phone in a
new album with the same name as X" \--anyone

"Please send a request to bing for the first 50 pages of cat images, and save
the files into Y directory, then open the first image" \--anyone

"Please Open up Steam and start up Skyrim" \--anyone

"After that, send a message to Henry and ask him if we wants to play again"
\--anyone

"Please get me a list of all of the processes about mongo" \--anyone who knows
what a computer is

"Please close the windows or tabs on reddit" \--anyone

"Please open up my school portal email" \--anyone

Thinking things into existence. That gap is still pretty big. It's easy to
think of ideas, but putting them into action is hard. That gap is going to get
smaller. At some point, pretty much everyone will be a commander of AI, which
will be like a team of programmers working for them. When that happens, we
have a reason to be scared.

~~~
andai
What is your reason to be scared?

~~~
jayajay
Simple -- people tend to think in the gutter, because there's no harm in it. I
can wish you dead right now, and it will literally not materialize into
anything, and because of that, I may not even feel bad about it. A problematic
situation arises when thinking about something is pretty much all you have to
do to make it so. There's a lot of good, and also a lot of bad that come from
having that power.

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mrfusion
Here's a weird one that bothers me.

When Siri reroutes me because a faster route is available, describe to me what
the old route was, what happened and what the new proposed route is.

Usually I have to pull over and review what's going on because it makes really
dumb decisions.

Actually I guess if it navigated better that would be a better fix.

------
cosmouser
I'd really appreciate a good cooking or baking assistant.

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adjwilli
There are lots of privacy issues involved, but it'd be cool if
Siri/Alexa/Cortana/etc count respond correctly to something like "Remind I
need to ask my brother about whatever the next time I see him", sort of a
social-fencing rather than a geo-fencing.

~~~
doublerebel
No privacy issues involved for anyone using iOS "find my friends" or
equivalent.

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Vosporos
I wish they wouldn't spy on me.

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synthmeat
To be usable with non-mainstream language names. Yes, I can speak in English
with it but I can't rename people/places. Which means I can't
mail/message/reference them which is, to me, most exciting current use case.

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douche
Go away. I'm starting to feel like I won't be able to buy a toaster that won't
have a personal assistant shoehorn ed into it in a few years.

Maybe I can set them up in a circle and let them babble away to each other?

~~~
yladiz
That reminds me of the Dueling Carls:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7mQhSZRgM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7mQhSZRgM)

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pvinis
Integration with messenger, whatsapp, etc. "read me the message I just got",
"reply blabla", "send to the foo group, blabla". why is that not here yet?

------
Foomandoonian
I _really_ want a fully-featured podcast player that syncs with an app on my
phone. I want to be able to manage subscriptions, ask about new episodes, play
episodes at different speeds and generally use the kinds of features that the
good podcast apps have.

------
cybernytrix
I'd say AI is real when it can do everything my 4yr old son can understand and
do. I used to think this is a low bar, But going by how slow and painful the
progress has been, I'm not hopeful it will happen even in my son's lifetime :(

~~~
Eridrus
Could you elaborate on that for those of us who are unaware of what cognitive
abilities a 4 year old child should possess?

~~~
andai
Approx the intelligence of a cat

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weaksauce
Remember context and respond accordingly. It's getting better but still not
great.

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3minus1
Setting variables. "Hey Siri, set my favorite color to green" "Hey Siri, what
is my favorite color"

I think it could have a lot of uses, mostly for remembering things.

~~~
fearandclothing
Google assistant can do that. I asked it in Allo "what's my dog's name?" It
then asked me what my dog's name was, and now can respond to that question
whether I ask in Allo or through Google home.

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skraelingjar
I wish they could control laser cutters and 3D printers. It would make my job
a heck of a lot easier. "Start printing the chess set in red and green on
printer #2" It would be great if I could also use them for design.

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doublerebel
Use voice URLs.

A reverse specificity URL, the opposite of what we use for standard REST URL:
action-object-domain. Then let apps register for actions and subsections
rather than requiring platform-specific APIs.

I think I'll have this implemented by 2017Q1.

------
mrfusion
I'd like reminders to work better on Siri. It puts them in this reminder app
and they never seem to go away until I manuly delete them.

Also geofencing reminders seem to kill my battery and constantly make the
location icon show up.

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rasz_pl
work offline, no calling back to motherbase

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mrfusion
I really wish I could talk to Siri in public without feeling silly.

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allard
In Allo (and similar), if I begin with when, where, who..., a ? should
magically appear at the right end of the line and float along there as the
question fills.

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somaweb
It should remember where I put my stuff. E.g "X remember that I put my big
Frying Pan in the cellar."

Next time I ask it, it should Response with this Information.

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aliencat
I would really wish for a timer assistant. When I'm cooking in the kitchen
with both of my hands occupied, I could just ask it to set timers.

~~~
detaro
Which one doesn't have that? That's the one feature I see people consistently
mention that they _love_ about their digital assistants.

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moreati
@raybb Out of interest, why are you asking?

~~~
raybb
Just out of curiosity really. My friend just got an Echo and I really couldn't
think of many ways that I would use it because they're still kinda limited. It
got me thinking, what would I actually want it to do?

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bobsil1
Make routine phone calls. Call school and tell them my kid will be out.
Understand routine replies.

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babyrainbow
Wash cloths, Iron them out, clean the house, do the dishes.

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Curtana
Dear Siri and Alexa.

Sit down or be sat. Smite or Smite or bite.

Sit, bitch sit

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smw
Use iCloud "Find my iPhone" to make my phone make a noise.

~~~
madamelic
I believe you can use IFFFT to do this. I know I've seen an recipe for this
before. Not exactly native behavior but it should do that.

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SunboX
OK Google, when does the supermarket XXX in city YYY open today?

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stkyle
#1. Eliminate the need for a hub for each smart device I own.

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smarinov
Make me a healthy breakfast.

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dave333
tell me which stocks to buy

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wslh
Teach kids.

------
tovmeod
coffee

