AI has been in the news a lot lately. Artificial Intelligence can be defined as a branch of computer science that can simulate human intelligence. In the recent rash of testing and using AI, there have been many scientists and engineers confused and somewhat scared of the results. You may be wondering how it will be useful to you. If you haven’t thought about it before, the digital assistants that many use every day are great examples of AI. Siri, Google Home and Alexa are all built on artificial intelligence. In the car the other night, two friends were fumbling with their iPhones trying to find a phone number to call for a restaurant’s carry out. Finally I said, “Hey Siri, call California Pizza Kitchen in Creve Coeur”. In seconds, I was connected. Don’t hesitate to use your voice.
Another example of AI in your life right now is prevalent in the streaming apps you see on your television or in your music play list. Companies like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify are feeding data into machines to learn algorithms to make your experience seamless. Using AI to parse through the ever-increasing user data, these apps create catalogs of music, movies, and TV series suited to each individual user’s liking.
Tip of the month
Translation with Siri
Besides the stand-alone app, Apple’s Translate feature is built into your iPhone, allowing you to quickly translate languages from pretty much anywhere on your device, including within your text messages, in your web browser and with Siri.
You can ask Siri to translate a single word or entire sentences with just your voice. For example, you can say “Translate ‘What is the weather like today’ in Spanish” and Siri will then read out your sentence in the original language and then in the translated language. If you want to hear the translation again, you can hit the play button in the Translate window.
Currently, 17 languages, including Spanish and Chinese, are supported with Translate, but not all of them can be used with Siri.
