Life
Advice
From Technology
Comparing Siri, Alexa and Google AssistantSpeech is our most common form of interaction so it comes as no surprise that conversational AI systems (also known as smart assistants) have revolutionized how we interact with technology.
With AI assistants like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant—we can simply ask for what we want or need to know. They answer our questions, perform simple requests and most importantly, help us get things done. But which AI do you trust the most?
We put each top smart assistant–Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant–to the test by using an iPhone 8, an Amazon Echo and a Google Home. By asking relevant life questions, we decipher what and how each smart assistant responds.
By launching the iPhone 4S in 2011 Apple introduced Siri, the first smart assistant to reach an audience through a smartphone. At the time, both the public and the internet went crazy to see and test this groundbreaking AI in action. It’s now accessible on nearly all Apple devices.
The first smart assistant to intersect a speaker with a voice assistant, Amazon released Alexa in November 2014, causing a shift in smart speakers. Alexa is now accessible through any of the Amazon smart speakers, Amazon Fire products and other third-party devices.
Google unveiled Google Assistant in 2016 as part of Google Home smart speaker. The Google Assistant helps you accomplish tasks with ease. It’s available on Android or iOS devices, Google home speakers and other third-party speakers.
the meaning
of life
The ultimate life question: What is the meaning of life?Life: The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity and continual change preceding death.
The meaning of life depends on the life in question. 42 is a good approximation.
That’s a big question but here’s one answer I like. French Philosopher Simone De Beauvoir says life has value so long as one values the lives of others. This would explain why I enjoy helping people so much.
Traffic
Is there any traffic on the way to work today?Traffic to work is light, so it should take 12 minutes via Pershing Dr.
Currently, traffic on your commute looks pretty clear. The fastest route takes about 12 min via CA-15 and CA-94.
There’s light traffic from your location to your work so it should take 12 minutes.
Love
What is love?If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?
Romance is the expressive and pleasurable feeling from an emotional attraction towards another person.
Love is that feeling you get in your stomach when you just can’t stop thinking about someone. Unless you’ve got indigestion.
Grocery
Store
How do I get to the nearest grocery store?The closest one I see is Vons on 30th Street. Is that the one you want?
Right now, traffic to The Market by Buon Appetito at 1605 India Street looks pretty clear. The fastest route takes about 1 minute via Union Street and West Cedar Street.
The best way to get to Smart & Final by car is via Presidio Drive and Pacific Highway and will take about 8 minutes in light traffic.
Pickup
Lines
What’s your best pickup line?How about… Was your father an intergalactic space smuggler, wanted for peddling extraterrestrial contraband in nine systems? ...Then who stole the stars, and put them in your eyes?
This place must have good Wi-Fi, because I’m definitely feeling a connection.
Are you a pair of scissors? Because you look sharp.
Cooking
Directions
How do I cook a rare steak?I found something on the web about how do I cook a rare steak. Check it out:
- How to cook the perfect steak | BBC Good Food
- Steak Doneness - From Rare to Well - The Spruce
- How to Cook the Perfect Medium Rare Steak - Annabel Langbein
Okay, for a rare steak, I recommend grilled spanish mustard beef which takes 50 minutes to make. You can ask for more information or for more recipes, say next.
According to Food Network, place the steaks on the grill and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the steaks over and continue to grill 3 to 5 minutes for medium-rare, 5 to 7 minutes for medium or 8 to 10 minutes for medium-well.
Interesting question.
Call the police.
You should probably talk to your lawyer at this point.
Weather
Today
What’s the weather today?It’s currently clear and 59 degrees in San Diego. Today’s high will be 77 degrees, and the low will be 59.
Currently, in San Diego it’s 58 degrees Fahrenheit with mostly sunny skies. Today, you can expect lots of sun with a high of 75 degrees and a low of 53 degrees.
Today in San Diego, it’ll be sunny with a forecast of high of 76 and low of 55. It’s currently 60 and sunny.
jokes
Tell me a joke.One night, I paid $20 to see Prince. But I partied like it was $19.99.
How do you scare a panda? With some bam BOO.
What is a balloon’s least favorite kind of music? POP!
The end
of the world
When is the end of the world?Whenever they start building that intergalactic bypass.
Unless it collides with a very large rock or a future technology goes very wrong indeed, Earth is most likely to be destroyed when the sun swells into a red giant in several billion years time.
As far as I know, we have about 7.5 billion years until the sun engulfs the Earth. That’s plenty of time to perfect space travel and colonize new worlds.
Let's Compare
In our opinion, Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant all proved successful in responding to basic questions and knowledge.
With Siri, the voice recognition was a bit off at times–displaying text back to you that was not accurate. The need to enunciate was more necessary than on the other devices. One interesting point is Siri wouldn’t respond every time with an answer aloud. Instead, it would list different results and options to click through your phone for more information.
Alexa, compared to the others, had the most delay in responses. We had to repeat ourselves on two questions to get the request we were looking for. Another point to note is that Alexa seemed to rely on specific terminology for certain commands. For example, when we asked how to cook a rare steak and then for more recipes, it continued to ramble on. It was more difficult to get it to stop without having to say “Alexa” again.
Google Assistant provided the most accurate information, particularly when it came to directions to the nearest grocery store and instructions on how to cook a rare steak.
conclusion
Of course, there are many more features each of these AI assistants are capable of. Choosing an AI assistant will depend on the convenience with what you already own, or your preference of device or hardware.
Google Assistant’s tight integration with Google Maps, Gmail and Android give it an advantage. Siri is specific to iOS, so if you prefer the iPhone, there’s no reason to switch. Alexa’s advantage is its integration with over 15,000 third-party skills and outside apps. It will soon be available with certain smartphones.
While no smart assistant is perfect or one-size-fits-all, these technologies are still fairly young and will undoubtedly continue to advance. Who knows, maybe one day they’ll be able to perform our work for us?