Google Encourages ‘Makers’ to Extend Reach of Its Voice AI Tech

“These efforts are part of a larger one on Google’s part to extend the ecosystem of its artificial intelligence technology amid a general AI boom in which multiple major tech firms – Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and more – are competing.”

Google is now actively encouraging tech makers and developers to build products featuring its voice-based AI technology.

The company has launched an “AIY” – “Artificial Intelligence Yourself”, a play on “DIY” – Voice Kit. It’s basically a set of materials designed to let developers construct a cube that can interact with users via speech. Those materials include things like a 3″ speaker, voice HAT microphone and accessory boards, a Photon microcontroller, and cardboard for the chassis.

Google is also providing developers with instructions on how to connect the Google Assistant platform with the Photon microcontroller, and guidance on how to develop compatible IoT apps on the Google Cloud Platform. And developers who want to take things a step further will also soon be able to start experimenting with Apple’s AIY Vision Kit for machine learning, which will be released at the end of December.

These efforts are part of a larger one on Google’s part to extend the ecosystem of its artificial intelligence technology amid a general AI boom in which multiple major tech firms – Apple, Samsung, Amazon, and more – are competing. Google has made its AI software a key selling point of its latest hardware devices, and is evidently aiming to get more products and services using the technology onto the market, even if they’re made by third parties.

Source: The Keyword