Talk to Me

How the next big thing in tech-voice computing-is upending Silicon Valley and will soon change our lives Every decade or so brings a seismic shift in how people interact with technology, from the PC to the internet to the smartphone. James Vlahos shows that we are on the cusp of the next crucial shift-to voice computing. Siri and Alexa are early forms of this technology, but the day is approaching when we will speak with our phones, appliances, and cars as fluently as we do with each other. Vlahos illuminates the enormous AI challenges that voice computing presents, and unpacks its vast economic, cultural, and psychological impact. Behind-the-scenes reporting reveals how Google, Apple, Microsoft, and other titans are waging a multibillion-dollar war to create the new voice-driven interfaces that will dominate the future. Amazon, for one, already has thousands of employees working on voice computing, and other companies are making similarly huge investments. Vlahos doesn't shy away from the troubling ethical questions that voice computing raises. Will people become emotionally dependent on lifelike computers? Will we confide in them in ways that further erode our privacy? Will they deepen our addiction to all things digital? Talk to Me proves that we are on the verge of a transformation as big as the iPhone and helps us prepare for the revolution just around the corner.