Tag Archives: assistant

Conversational assistants could be used to improve African American health around COVID-19

By | December 1, 2020
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hand holding mobile phone with medical graphic

U-M researchers say employing a conversational assistant could be one way to narrow the gap in health disparities impacting the African American community, particularly around the current COVID-19 pandemic. Lionel Robert, associate professor at the School of Information and senior author of a study in the journal Digital Government: Research & Practice, says a technological solution could keep… Read More »

Emotion recognition has a privacy problem – here’s how to fix it

By | February 26, 2020
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Young blonde woman with black box over eyes talking on smartphone

With devices listening everywhere you go, privacy concerns are endemic to advancing technology. For example, a virtual assistant that can learn to adapt to a user’s mood creates more useful, human-like interactions. But what if the audio powering these insights stores the user’s gender and demographic information on company servers – leaving the user open to identification by… Read More »

U-M team competes in Amazon challenge to make AI more engaging

By | December 4, 2019
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Sound waves and ear next to a table with home device.

Artificial intelligence that can hold a “real” conversation has long been one of the sci-fi standards of future technology. Enter the Amazon Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge. Among the ten schools from around the world selected to compete is a team from U-M co-advised by assistant professor David Jurgens from the School of Information and assistant professor Nikola Banovic in… Read More »

U-M researchers hack devices with laser “Light Commands”

By | November 7, 2019
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Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices

A team of researchers including Kevin Fu and Daniel Genkin, U-M professors of electrical engineering and computer science, have found a way to take over Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa, or Apple’s Siri devices from hundreds of feet away by shining laser pointers, and even flashlights, at the devices’ microphones. “We’ve shown that hijacking voice assistants only requires line-of-sight… Read More »

Hey, Alexa, stop listening to everything I say

By | November 27, 2018
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Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices

Smart speakers like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home that can give you the weather forecast, play your favorite tunes, or control the lights in your house are a hot ticket item for the holidays. But not for everyone. Recent research from the U-M School of Information looked at privacy perceptions, concerns, and privacy-seeking behaviors with smart speakers. Florian… Read More »