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Since the launch of ChatGPT last year, the number of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has exploded. Today, chatbots dominate the media spotlight, AI projects number in the hundreds of thousands, Microsoft and Google join OpenAI as major companies pursuing AI initiatives, and even TikTok, Adobe, and Shopify have announced their We incorporate generative AI into our systems.
Generative AI may seem like a recent phenomenon, but that's not necessarily the case, says Andy Watson, Director of Product Management and IoT Leader at Rightpoint. This is a dramatically new and powerful technology when you consider the experience and the interaction with it. ”
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But for many of us, AI's biggest impact will be right where we live: at home. Through automation, virtual assistants, and machine learning algorithms, AI can make your home more efficient and give you back valuable time.
Of course, AI technology is nothing new to today's smart homes. Whenever you talk to your smart speaker or activate your home security system, you use resources developed with deep learning in your stack. While we're a long way from the vision of a fully automated, futuristic home depicted in the cartoon show “The Jetsons,” our approach to smart homes has been inspired by the Echo Speaker, Apple HomePod, Google Nest, and even more. You can start with small steps. These include installing a Samsung TV, smart light bulbs or plugs that can be controlled remotely, and using security cameras that can be viewed on your phone.
But the scope of AI in smart homes could go even deeper. Increasing automation has the potential to improve our personal lives and increase productivity. Let's take a look.
AI runs deep in smart home technology
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“The ability to bring smart functionality throughout the home is a huge benefit that generative AI can provide,” Watson explains.
These benefits extend beyond today's smart devices, which can, for example, intelligently enhance security footage in real-time, especially in low-light situations, or generate routines and automations according to learned patterns and confirm them with homeowners. It can be expanded to provide more options. There are also opportunities for generative AI to provide predictive maintenance.
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AI can learn from your home, appliances, and consumption and make inferences from your data. “It helps identify items in the home that require specific preventive maintenance that can be done by the homeowner or scheduled through generative AI,” Watson said. Work with trusted third parties on your behalf. ”
Also, generative AI will go far beyond what ChatGPT can do.All about technology advancements are here
Let's take a look at what Google Assistant can do for Pixel smartphone owners. The virtual voice assistant can screen the user's calls, speak to the caller and inform the user of the content of the call, or simply refuse to answer the call if it is a spam call. Smart home generative AI tools go even further, allowing you to use data collected from your device to schedule appointments for her HVAC maintenance, landscaping, or gutter cleaning based on your specific schedule and availability. Masu.
“If you have a smart water heater that can connect to the internet and collect data, an AI generator can make inferences from usage to determine when maintenance is needed,” Watson says. . .
Living in a house above a repair shop that requires a lot of intervention from various contractors, I can imagine a future where I ditch my iPhone reminder app and use a generative AI assistant.
This assistant can book direct appointments with maintenance companies, provide me with trusted resources that my neighbors value, and provide personalized recommendations based on the likes and dislikes it has learned about me. can also do. This means that with generative AI, many decisions that need to be made could soon become just two.
What about ChatGPT and voice assistants?
The Amazon Alexa voice assistant uses natural language processing technology and is available on devices such as the Echo Show 8.
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Generative AI may help make future homes smarter, but the impact of AI is already being seen and heard. Amazon, Google, and Apple have used natural language processing (NLP) systems to create voice assistants in our homes such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. Like Google Assistant, Alexa is also getting a generative AI upgrade. Next few months.
Watson believes generative AI will greatly enhance these voice assistants. “Voice assistants today…people use voice assistants for very transactional purposes: 'I need something, so you give me something, like turn on a light or check the weather. ”, he said. I will explain. “But from a generative AI perspective, something like ChatGPT has the potential to change that relationship from transactional to collaborative.”
Instead of simple automations that users must manually configure, generative AI could suggest new and more complex ways for smart homes to function based on what it knows about user behavior. This includes turning on a fall detection system when a specific family member enters a room or running customized automations when a family member is identified on a security camera.
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This evolution is already evident in the way smart HVAC systems use generated AI to optimize heating, air conditioning, and ventilation. The system combines user patterns with data from environmental factors such as external temperature and humidity.
“The real power behind generative AI models lies in their ability to reason about huge data sets,” Watson said, noting that all smart home products are built on huge data sets that are rarely used in conjunction with each other. It will be further explained that it generates a large amount of data.
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Voice assistants like Alexa and Siri collect data about you to learn more about your preferences and patterns. iPhone uses machine learning to know which speakers you typically play music on while you're making dinner, and start making suggestions when that time comes, for example.
However, this preference data can potentially be used for many more purposes. Watson explains that if generative AI models can infer answers from user behavioral data collected, homes can be made smarter without the need for manual intervention or foresight.
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A company called Josh.AI is leveraging this potential to add the power of generative AI to smart homes. The company has officially announced JoshGPT, a voice assistant powered by OpenAI's GPT technology. This can currently surpass Alexa and Siri thanks to generative AI. In addition to asking Alexa for the weather forecast, a Josh.AI user can also ask JoshGPT to check the weather, turn on the lights, and play music with his one request.
JoshGPT can generate answers to your queries instead of searching them online or repeating website content. JoshGPT allows you to ask questions just like his ChatGPT, but through voice conversations using microphones and speakers around your home.
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And like JoshGPT, smart home voice assistants could be smarter than ever, able to handle multiple tasks at once, like asking three questions. “Anyone can have a smart home if they want to, because generative AI will do the thinking for them,” Watson says.
This is where “substance” comes into play.
Home automation systems are controlled from the dashboard.
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The potential for generative AI in smart homes comes with significant advances in connectivity standards.
One of the most important step changes in connectivity is Matter, an open source standard developed with influence and investment from major companies such as Google and Apple. Matter brings seamless interoperability between smart home devices that previously couldn't communicate with each other.
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Since Matter was launched in 2022, many smart home manufacturers have started adopting the standard to take interoperability of their products for granted.
Watson agrees that Matter enables “interoperability between many different devices across a variety of industries and multi-administrator support for voice assistants that are inherently agnostic.” Multi-management is central to Matter's purpose, as it means different users can control all Matter-enabled devices without having to choose a single platform.
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“User experience integration and interoperability between these disparate devices will allow generative AI models to access vast datasets never before available to personalize smart home experiences for individual homeowners. '' Watson added.
What about ethics?
Our homes are havens of privacy, so the idea of an AI model that uses data collected from devices placed throughout the residence won't appeal to everyone. While there are conveniences and benefits to bringing more AI into the home, the potential risks may make some people think twice.
“AI is a very broad technology and it's moving quickly, and I think that's why so many people are concerned about where it's going to take us and its trajectory,” Watson said. he says.
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He believes that AI requires thoughtfulness, morality, ethics, and some regulation to ensure safety and effectiveness. “In almost everything we do when it comes to social media, you are the product in the equation, even if it's a product you're not necessarily paying for,” he added.
Watson says consumers will be able to choose whether to sacrifice privacy for convenience. For example, are they willing to share data about their behavior with other companies to help develop lower-cost products and services?
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“Transparency is the first step,” Watson said. “People need to know how their data is being used, where it's being stored, and where it's being sent.”
As with any technology, different consumers will have different opinions. For now, I'm using generative AI to schedule home maintenance appointments without me having to do anything, setting up smart home devices to match my actions, and ultimately letting Alexa and Siri schedule home maintenance appointments without me having to do anything. I will continue to dream of a world where people can understand what they are doing. ” I ask them — at least 80% of the time.