What is the oldest voice assistant?

Voice assistants are software programs that can understand human speech and respond through audio output. They utilize artificial intelligence and natural language processing to have conversations with users, provide information, and carry out tasks by voice command. The goal of this article is to identify the very first voice assistant ever created, which will provide insight into the origins and early development of this now-ubiquitous technology.

Defining Voice Assistants

A voice assistant is software that utilizes artificial intelligence capabilities like natural language processing, speech recognition, and voice synthesis to understand spoken commands and questions and respond back using a synthesized voice (Source 1). Voice assistants use voice recognition technology to transcribe human speech and natural language processing to “understand” the meaning and intent behind spoken words and phrases. They then formulate an appropriate response which is “spoken” back to the user via text-to-speech voice synthesis (Source 2).

In essence, voice assistants are AI agents designed to have conversations with human users and assist them by understanding verbal requests, gathering information, controlling smart home devices, setting alarms, online searches, playing music and more. They utilize the latest advancements in speech recognition, conversational AI and machine learning to deliver a useful hands-free experience (Source 3).

Bell Labs Audrey (1952)

One of the earliest voice assistants was Audrey, created at Bell Labs in 1952. Audrey was able to recognize digits 0 through 9 spoken by any voice [1]. It worked by analyzing analog waveforms of speech and matching them against templates for each digit. The technology relied on measuring sound amplitudes at certain frequencies and matching those amplitudes to patterns. While limited, Audrey represented an important early milestone in the development of speech recognition and voice assistants.

Harpy Speech Understanding System (1976)

One of the earliest conversational AI systems with voice capabilities was Harpy, developed at Carnegie Mellon University in 1976. Harpy was able to understand over 1000 words and could respond to voice commands (Reddy, 2019). The goal of Harpy was to develop a speech understanding system that could process continuous speech input. It consisted of a speech analyzer, a semantic interpreter, and a conversation manager (Reddy, 2019). Harpy was able to engage in limited conversations based on scripted interactions. It marked an important milestone in the evolution of conversational AI systems with voice interfaces.

Wildfire (1999)

Wildfire, developed by Wildfire Communications Inc. in 1999, is considered one of the first intelligent personal assistants. It was designed to make recommendations and deliver information to mobile device users based on their preferences and context like location and past behaviors. Some key features of Wildfire include:

– Used natural language processing to understand user requests entered via text or voice. Users could ask Wildfire questions or give it commands to look up information or complete tasks.

– Personalization and contextual awareness to provide relevant recommendations and notifications to users. It learned user preferences over time.

– Multi-modal interaction using voice, text, and touch to communicate with users across devices like mobile phones and PDAs.

– Proactive notifications and suggestions based on the user’s location and habits. For example, suggesting nearby restaurants at lunchtime.

– Integration with 3rd party services like calendars, email, weather, stocks, etc. to access user information and complete actions.

While limited in capability compared to today’s assistants, Wildfire pioneered several key features of intelligent agents years before Siri, Alexa and others. It demonstrated the potential for AI-powered assistants to understand, interact with, and support users in daily life.

Siri (2010)

In 2010, Apple acquired a startup called Siri that had developed a virtual personal assistant app for iOS. The acquisition marked Apple’s entry into the voice assistant space. On October 4, 2011, Apple officially launched Siri as an integrated feature of the iPhone 4S.

With the launch and marketing power of Apple, Siri gained huge popularity and brought voice assistants into the mainstream. As reported by TechRadar, “The iPhone 4S was the first time a lot people had seen a voice assistant like Siri in action and realized how useful it could be. Siri changed people’s perception of what a digital companion could be, and what it meant for our relationships with technology.” (Source)

Siri enabled iPhone users to get information, set reminders and alarms, place calls, and dictate messages just by speaking. This natural language processing was groundbreaking at the time. Apple’s launch of Siri is considered a seminal moment that paved the way for voice assistants becoming ubiquitous in our daily lives.

Amazon Alexa (2014)

The launch of the Amazon Echo, powered by Alexa AI, in 2014 helped introduce and popularize voice assistants for smart home devices. The Echo line expanded from the initial cylinder-shaped Echo speaker to include devices like the Echo Dot, Echo Show, and Echo Spot with screens, as well as Echos designed for cars and wearables.

According to the article on ChristianPost.com, Alexa gained new features like the ability to make calls and work as an intercom between Echo devices. Its skills store enabled third-party developers to build capabilities for Alexa. This helped drive adoption of Alexa-powered devices in the home.

Google Assistant (2016)

In May 2016, Google unveiled its own voice AI called Google Assistant. Initially launched on Google’s messaging app Allo and home speaker Google Home, Google Assistant was designed to have natural conversations and complete tasks across a variety of Google services and third party apps. Google Assistant expanded to Android smartphones and iPhones in 2017, making it widely accessible on mobile and smart home devices.

One of the key features of Google Assistant is the ability for users to access their voice history and delete recordings. Users can go to their Google Account settings and review or delete previous conversations with Google Assistant as described here. Google states that deleting this history may impact the Assistant’s ability to recognize your voice and understand you better.

Other Key Developments

The timeline of voice assistants has seen many additional key advancements over the years. In 1961, Carnegie Mellon University researchers built the first automated speech recognition system called “Shoebox”, which could recognize digits 0 through 9 spoken in English [1]. In 1970, DARPA funded five years of speech recognition research at Carnegie Mellon University, which helped advance the field significantly [2].

In the late 1970s, Texas Instruments developed the Speak & Spell electronic learning toy, which allowed children to study spelling via phrase synthesis. In 1987, the first commercial speech recognition software called Dragon Dictate launched for PCs. And in the 1990s, the earliest telephone-based conversational systems like Tellme Networks provided automated phone services for quick information lookup.

In the 2000s, significant progress was made in statistical methods for speech recognition. Microsoft launched the first intelligent personal assistant called Clippy in 2000 as an Office Assistant feature. In 2011, Apple acquired the startup Siri and integrated the virtual assistant into iOS. And in 2014, Amazon launched the Alexa virtual assistant and Echo smart speaker, kicking off the rapid proliferation of AI voice assistants in homes.

Conclusion

The evolution of voice assistants has been remarkable to witness over the past several decades. What started as early academic research projects in the 1950s and 60s eventually led to the development of the first commercially available voice assistants like Siri and Alexa decades later. Key milestones included pioneering systems like Audrey, Harpy, and Wildfire, which demonstrated the early potential of voice technology and natural language processing. As computing power increased exponentially, especially in the 2000s, it finally became feasible to pack the complex algorithms required for speech recognition and AI assistants into consumer devices. Now in the 2020s, voice assistants are ubiquitous and integrated into smartphones, smart speakers, cars, and more. While the technology still has room for improvement, it’s clear that voice AI will only continue revolutionizing how humans interact with machines.