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This article was published on May 9, 2016

‘Viv’ is a next-gen AI assistant that runs circles around Siri, Alexa and Cortana


‘Viv’ is a next-gen AI assistant that runs circles around Siri, Alexa and Cortana

One of the brains behind Apple’s iconic digital assistant Siri, Dag Kittlaus, took to the stage today at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC to show off his new project, Viv — an AI assistant that aims to be “the intelligent interface for everything.”

The 20-minute demo wowed the audience with a real-time demonstration of some really impressive capabilities. What started with simple questions about the weather turned into some truly complex inquiries like:

“Will it be warmer than 70-degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5pm the day after tomorrow?”

Viv delivered the answer in a matter of seconds, and correctly handled numerous oddly specific questions that followed, as well as ordering flowers, sending money as payment for drinks the previous night and even booking a hotel in under 60 seconds.

Throughout the demo, the AI assistant demonstrated a profound understanding of context and intent as Kittlaus rapid-fired commands in natural language.

What makes Viv different is in its desire to be truly multi-platform. The team wants Viv to run not just on all mobile devices (no matter the platform), but to tackle home hardware, appliances and other gadgets with its always-listening interface, a la Amazon’s ‘Alexa.’

Additionally, the program is always learning. Rather than handle inquiries with pre-built sets of defined functions, Viv has the ability to create programs out of thin air to complete commands that may not fit the pre-defined mold. This is a stark contrast to Siri, which defaults to a Web search when it doesn’t understand — or can’t find — an answer.

The demo was, in a word, impressive. No word on when we might start seeing it in our devices.

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