An AI assistant for Xbox One called Boxy, using the cloud and Kinect?

[Cyan]

I have been thinking about this lately, and I believe it would be a great idea.

What about creating an AI assistant for the Xbox One? :smile2:

By that I mean something similar to the Microsoft Office assistant -a notepad with a clip and two eyes- which was present in older versions of Microsoft Office.

They could call it Boxy, and she would have a nice design. :smile2:

You could talk to her using your voice with Kinect, and since the voice recognition is rather decent (even more if using the cloud) it could make up for decent conversations.

Now that they have the tools -voice recognition, cloud, new console- and the interface is so boring nowadays, :/ this would certainly add a lot to the Xbox One. It could bring new life to Bing too.

Not to mention the many tutorials they have on Kinect and the new interface would be much more fun to use.

The idea is that this AI could use the Xbox One's cloud to have an endless database of words and expressions. And could help to inform you about games.

For instance: "Boxy, tell me about Halo 2". :smile2:

Then Boxy could load a Wikipedia article with summarised data on the game. She could also have the ability to have a text to speech voice so she can read the Wikipedia article for you.

Now with the official USB keyboard support you could also chat with her.

She would be very expressive, smiling when something funny is said and getting annoyed if you don't behave well --clenching her teeth.

Besides that, if you insult her she would reply to you smartly using intelligent responses by building an internal database utilising the cloud and your own conversation with her.

If you keep on insulting her, (this could be fixed by reconnecting manually afterwards) she would have the ability to disconnect you from Xbox Live.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Simulated human conversations don't really exist yet. There's an AI test that states if you can convince 50% of humans that the subject on the other side of the screen they are communicating over is a human, you have achieved true intelligence. Apart from my opinion that this test is bunk (it's measuring the concept of intelligence by comparison with the only known intelligent species), it's important to note that no machine has managed it yet.

The likes of Siri shows computers can respond with rudimentary 'understanding', and Watson shows massive database searches can retrieve relevant info similar to a human digging through their memories. But a convincing entity that people would want to chat to is extremely implausible. Not least because understanding natural human language is still an unmet target. Kinect's voice control is managed input. Combined with cloud computing, something may be possible, but it'd be resource hungry of the cloud, laggy and unnatural (think Uncanny Valley for conversations. Pulling up responses based on probable meanings has a significant failure rate), and one has to wonder what the financial gain is to warrant the investment. As a gimmick it'd draw attention, but I doubt it has any long-term advantage over Siri like voice searches. You'd be better off just fitting an avatar frontend over a voice search system - give Siri/Cortana a face.

 

[whome0]

Lol, sure....or just more games. Even games without Kinect is fine if that helps making games better. While waiting for installation I can talk to Siri tablet or Android helper if feel have a conversation.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Turing tests always fail on ambiguity. Time flies like an arrow... really!? You can use Markov Models to compute probability in a given passage but you still really need to brute force anything more complex than a simple question. Things like Siri seem really clever but they are already primed to a set of keywords, they're not working it out on the spot.

You'd need a huge amount of cloud juice just to handle one conversation, it's just not going to work when you, potentially, have thousands of conversations running simultaneously.

 

[Cyan]

Simulated human conversations don't really exist yet. There's an AI test that states if you can convince 50% of humans that the subject on the other side of the screen they are communicating over is a human, you have achieved true intelligence. Apart from my opinion that this test is bunk (it's measuring the concept of intelligence by comparison with the only known intelligent species), it's important to note that no machine has managed it yet.

The likes of Siri shows computers can respond with rudimentary 'understanding', and Watson shows massive database searches can retrieve relevant info similar to a human digging through their memories. But a convincing entity that people would want to chat to is extremely implausible. Not least because understanding natural human language is still an unmet target. Kinect's voice control is managed input. Combined with cloud computing, something may be possible, but it'd be resource hungry of the cloud, laggy and unnatural (think Uncanny Valley for conversations. Pulling up responses based on probable meanings has a significant failure rate), and one has to wonder what the financial gain is to warrant the investment. As a gimmick it'd draw attention, but I doubt it has any long-term advantage over Siri like voice searches. You'd be better off just fitting an avatar frontend over a voice search system - give Siri/Cortana a face.

Your first paragraph shows that you are very exigent with what you expect from it or what you would like it to have, and I agree with you a totally believable AI is nigh impossible nowadays.

I think that the difference with Siri and others is that console can have recognisable mascots, like a talisman. (btw, I wonder why they called the console Xbox One, -puke- a name as Talisman would be much better, and they worked on a GPU on the past called Project Talisman)

Siri is very impersonal because of that, and rather boring. But something like Boxy, which could comment on how your game goes in real time -say you are dying many times, she could appear on screen and say "I can feel your pain, man, do you need a helping hand and some training?" and smart things like that, then people would accept it as part of the console.

Some people love their machines. And something like that can make a simple stupid machine into something more believable.

It doesn't have to be perfect, but your mention of Cortana reminds me that Boxy could be like a friendly face you can see on your console, and the true mascot of the console --not just a videogame whose main character is cool, say Sonic or Mario.

You could give her some personal details and rather secret information, and she could worry and care about you, asking how your day went. :smile2:

Say, you are myopic (I am), or you have epilepsy, or whatever. She could go; "How is your short-sightedness going, did it stabilise?". :smile2:

or trying to cheer you up... "Don't worry about not being able to drive because of epilepsy, you can enjoy a lot of activities and have a normal life". etc etc etc.

Or bringing up random conversations, like telling you something about politics;

"Do you know you live in a rather conservative part of England?":smile: (or the USA, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Rusia, Holland, etc etc)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Siri is very impersonal because of that, and rather boring. But something like Boxy, which could comment on how your game goes in real time -say you are dying many times, she could appear on screen and say "I can feel your pain, man, do you need a helping hand and some training?" and smart things like that, then people would accept it as part of the console.

You'd need game 'plug ins' for the AI to be able to observe (feedbacks sent to the Boxy to respond to) and those would be limited in number and interpretation. I suppose it could tell by voice whether you're pleased or angry, although even interpreting that successfully maybe hit and miss. "Yeah, come on," shouted aggressively and unclearly can be a very positive communication.

You could give her some personal details and rather secret information, and she could worry and care about you, asking how your day went. :smile2:

Say, you are myopic (I am), or you have epilepsy, or whatever. She could go; "How is your short-sightedness going, did it stabilise?". :smile2:

or trying to cheer you up... "Don't worry about not being able to drive because of epilepsy, you can enjoy a lot of activities and have a normal life". etc etc etc.

That's what other real people are for. Implementing that in CE device will have social implications (people who get caught up in the 'perfect' artificial relationship instead of engaging with real, frustrating people), and no doubt earn the ridicule from one's fellow human beings who know your closest friend is a computer program.

 

[idsn6]

 

[orangpelupa]

Gatchaman crowds?

To be honest, it sounds like Konami would do in some sub plot of metal gear when Kojima-san start to do something weird again. Something like the scene where mantis can't read your mind.

Or its will be featured in their new new love plus one. :/

How about project milo? It's like that and MS killed it.

 

[Cyan]

You'd need game 'plug ins' for the AI to be able to observe (feedbacks sent to the Boxy to respond to) and those would be limited in number and interpretation. I suppose it could tell by voice whether you're pleased or angry, although even interpreting that successfully maybe hit and miss. "Yeah, come on," shouted aggressively and unclearly can be a very positive communication.

I thought it would be easier, more like a conversational AI, that could use a gigantic text database from the cloud first and build the database within the console over time -not to overuse the cloud-.

The idea of plugins sounds interesting though, because she could have different clothes depending on the user's tastes and mannerisms.

Showing angriness with the voice sounds the way to go to. The gestrues exist nowadays already.

This is my avatar, for instance, in my Xbox.com profile.

https://live.xbox.com/en-GB/Profile?gamerTag=ruin of palmira

If you click on it (I think you can only see it if Microsoft Silverlight is installed, but I am not sure), sometimes he smiles, other times he looks surprised, and yet other times he gets angry and clenches his teeth.

The thing is that Boxy has to be a woman, imho, a very attractive one, who could look good even when she gets angry and clenches her teeth.

I think people usually insult AIs to see their reaction and how they respond, and remaining an entire day on non speaking terms with you if you repeatedly insult her, or disconnecting you from Xbox Live -you could reconnect manually in an instant- could be last resort to defend herself if dialogue doesn't work.

That's what other real people are for. Implementing that in CE device will have social implications (people who get caught up in the 'perfect' artificial relationship instead of engaging with real, frustrating people), and no doubt earn the ridicule from one's fellow human beings who know your closest friend is a computer program.

Life is conflict. So yes, I think that we have enough with actual people in this crappy world. We could discard that, because simulating something as complex as a living being, be it a human, or any other creature, is a very difficult process.

She wouldn't have to necessarily be your psychologist, but more like someone who you can talk to and you can learn from or just have fun with.

Sometimes I have that feeling when talking to Kinect, that if someone hears me, they could think I am crazy. Alas, I live alone nowadays, so if someone hear me shouting "Xbox Record That" "Xbox Go To Powerstar Golf", well, let's just say that they might think something is wrong with me.

Sometimes I laugh loudly when I am alone at home, watching a video or reading a comment. Other times I think to myself and there are very few occasions when I just express those thoughts with words -i.e. when playing Heroes of Might and Magic I can go "Aaaaaah, now I need to find another castle", and so on-

The way society is changing it will be a time where AIs and people will have to learn to coexist. The challenge is creating a good AI, a great database to respond to people or even going further, like modelling actual neurons --not for Boxy though, she would be meant to be light and fun, and interesting without trying to be human. :smile2:

 

[Cyan]

Gatchaman crowds?

To be honest, it sounds like Konami would do in some sub plot of metal gear when Kojima-san start to do something weird again. Something like the scene where mantis can't read your mind.

Or its will be featured in their new new love plus one. :/

How about project milo? It's like that and MS killed it.

Project Milo is an entirely different beast. I thought it would be fine, but limited and boring because you would be treating it like a game. It seemed to be a game, and he was a child, it had a predictable personality, a landscape, a place where he lived... Boring, imho.

That's why Milo would never be successful, in my opinion.

An AI that can not only help you but sometimes engage in casual conversations with you or being at the heart of the platform seems like a much more interesting idea because it makes it much more varied and less predictable.

Say... you are dying constantly in a game. Then Boxy appears and tells you:

"You are choking, man". "May I help you?". (smile)

"Didn't your mother tell you that you shouldn't try things you aren't ready for? Please, decrease the difficulty level a notch"

Or if you are a decent player but Boxy finds out that you are stuck she can appear and try to help.

"Here you can go to Gamefaqs and read a superb FAQ on this game you are playing" "Do you want me to send you to the Gamefaqs webpage I am talking about?"

Or ....

"This guy has created a very fun video which you can not also have fun watching but you can learn the basics of this incredible game and get the handle of it. May I provide you with the link?" (real life experience, it happened to me with a game I purchased)

If you say yes, the web browser displays on your console and Boxy appears on the screen and directs you to the exact part of the Gamefaq related to the exact stage or part of the game you are playing, using an intelligent search.

Say you are in the Hangar part in Halo 2 on Legendary, Boxy could look for the word Hangar within the Gamefaq and direct you to the Legendary difficulty Halo 2 Gamefaq by tomrace. :smile2:

 

[Cyan]

This is the first look at Cortana for Windows Phone 8. Not until recently did interactive AIs be used for much of anything besides phones, and the trend continues.

I still dream of a Boxy AI who could drive you home safely, many people could be kept alive. Not that I couldn't do that. I was just like the only one sober at many parties, so I'd drive people home -- hey gotta admit, people are alive today mainly because I drove them home --I have a driving licence since 2005. :smile2:

http://www.wpcentral.com/first-look-cortana-windows-phone-81