Dylan’s Desk: Siri is the grandmother of Marvin the Paranoid Android

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Dylan Tweney

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Oct 12, 2011, 1:10:05 PM10/12/11

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Here's the latest story I've published. As always, I welcome your feedback. (And see the bottom of this message to subscribe or unsubscribe.) --Dylan

Dylan’s Desk: Siri is the grandmother of Marvin the Paranoid Android

In Star Trek IV, Scotty picks up a computer mouse and speaks into it, trying to get the machine’s attention. “Computer! Computer!” When nothing happens, someone tells him to use the keyboard. “How quaint,” is his bemused response.

You might feel the same way in 10 years, if someone hands you a computer without a voice interface. That’s because we’re on the verge of an explosion in interactive, interpretive computer voice control.

“The technology is just beginning,” said Norman Winarsky, the head of the venture arm of SRI, a legendary Silicon Valley think tank. “This is real artificial intelligence and real technology.”

Winarsky was talking to me about Siri, the voice-commanded assistant built into the iPhone 4S and the most impressive part of Apple’s product introduction on October 4.

Read the whole column: Dylan’s Desk: Siri is the grandmother of Marvin the Paranoid Android | VentureBeat.