Virtual assistant facts for kids
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An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) or intelligent personal assistant (IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on commands or questions.
Some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond via synthesized voices. Users can ask their assistants questions, control home automation devices and media playback via voice, and manage other basic tasks such as email, to-do lists, and calendars with verbal spoken commands.
Apple and Google have large installed bases of users on smartphones.
Microsoft has a large installed base of Windows-based personal computers, smartphones and smart speakers.
Amazon have many people using their smart speakers.
Method of interaction
Virtual assistants work via:
- Text, including: online chat (especially in an instant messaging app or other app), SMS Text, e-mail or other text-based communication channel
- Voice, for example with Amazon Alexa on the Amazon Echo device, Siri on an iPhone, or Google Assistant on Google-enabled/Android mobile devices
- By taking and/or uploading images, as in the case of Samsung Bixby on the Samsung Galaxy S8
Some virtual assistants are accessible via multiple methods, such as Google Assistant via chat on the Google Allo and Google Messages app and via voice on Google Home smart speakers.
Virtual assistants use natural language processing (NLP) to match user text or voice input to executable commands. Many continually learn using artificial intelligence techniques including machine learning.
Some of these assistants like Google Assistant(which contains Google Lens) and Samsung Bixby also have the added ability to do image processing to recognize objects in the image to help the users get better results from the clicked images.
To activate a virtual assistant using the voice, a wake word might be used. This is a word or groups of words such as "Hey Siri", "OK Google" or "Hey Google", "Alexa", and "Hey Microsoft".
Devices and objects where found
Virtual assistants may be integrated into many types of platforms or, like Amazon Alexa, across several of them:
- Into devices like smart speakers such as Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod
- In instant messaging apps on both smartphones and via the Web, e.g. Facebook's M (virtual assistant) on both Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps or via the Web
- Built into a mobile operating system (OS), as are Apple's Siri on iOS devices and BlackBerry Assistant on BlackBerry 10 devices, or into a desktop OS such as Cortana on Microsoft Windows OS
- Built into a smartphone independent of the OS, as is Bixby on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
- Within instant messaging platforms, assistants from specific organizations, such as Aeromexico's Aerobot on Facebook Messenger or Wechat Secretary on WeChat
- Within mobile apps from specific companies and other organizations, such as Dom from Domino's Pizza
- In appliances, cars, and wearable technology.
- Previous generations of virtual assistants often worked on websites, such as Alaska Airlines' Ask Jenn, or on interactive voice response (IVR) systems such as American Airlines' IVR by Nuance.
Services
Virtual assistants can provide a wide variety of services. These include:
- Provide information such as weather, facts from e.g. Wikipedia or IMDb, set an alarm, make to-do lists and shopping lists
- Play music from streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora; play radio stations; read audiobooks
- Play videos, TV shows or movies on televisions, streaming from e.g. Netflix
- Complement and/or replace customer service by humans. One report estimated that an automated online assistant produced a 30% decrease in the work-load for a human-provided call centre.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Asistente virtual para niños
