The week ahead

Welcome to Week 2 of an introduction to conversational interfaces.

Last week you learned about the basics of conversational interfaces. You learned about what they are, what they do and who they are made by. This week you will further develop your knowledge by reading articles, watching videos made by experts in the field, hearing interviews with practitioners in this space and discussing the issues you learn about with your fellow learners.

You will tackle some of the ethical issues that are being raised by this emerging technology. This includes a look at Google Duplex, the service from Google Assistant that will make a restaurant reservation on your behalf. This will raise the issue of awareness and how it makes people feel if they find out they are interacting with a machine rather than a human. What have our practitioners learned about behaviour and preferences, and what best practise is emerging in dealing with ethical issues related to voice technology?

How we develop ethical technology is an important aspect of all digital design. You will hear from Georgina Bourke and Fiona Morgan who write about voice technology ethics and how prototypes are conceived and tested.

Whilst new interfaces have the potential to provide value to many people’s lives, they are also inherently vulnerable as they are connected to the internet. Issues like this and more will be explored and you will get the chance to join the debate and share your thoughts.

After considering the issues above, we’ll look ahead to the future. You will hear from Kane Simms, presenter of the VUX World podcast. He will talk to you about the cutting edge of voice activated technology and anticipate what we might expect to see over the next few years.

Finally, you will take some time to think about your own interest and motivation in this space.

Over to you

So before we embark on this second week, let’s think about what areas of voice technology spark interest for you.

What kind of conversational interface are you interested in using or creating? What opportunities have you identified in this space and what’s next for you?

Use the comments section to answer these questions and share your ideas with other learners.