Why Voice Computing Standards are Needed Now: Interview With Jon Stine

THE RISE OF VOICE COMPUTING opens a range of innovations for consumer commerce. It not only impacts how consumers interact with digital retailers and services, but also how business decisions are made.

In this debut edition of HyTalk, we meet Jon Stine, founder of the Open Voice Network. OVN is spearheading the effort to define both technical standards and ethical use guidelines for voice assistance technologies.

Jon shares his fascinating outlook for the future impact of voice computing. We discuss its effect on every-day consumer experiences and AI-empowered commercial applications. He describes some fundamental principles and “blue sky” scenarios.

Voice Computing in the Enterprise

Most of us are growing more familiar using with smart voice devices like Alexa, Siri, and Hey Google for simple tasks. Interactions with voice assistants in the business environment are more novel, however.

Enterprise AI platforms have game-changing potential for consumer commerce businesses, in two respects: One, they enable superior experience design, especially personalized pricing and assortments. Two, they enable business users to access relevant data more easily and make more informed and forward-looking decisions.

As the use of both consumer-facing and AI decision tools grows more widespread, the mission of the OVN is growing in importance. As Stine explains, technical standards are needed to make voice computing work broadly across multiple platforms and computing environments. Ethical standards – especially related to data privacy – are just as crucial.

(The HyTalk interview series is produced by my firm VSN Strategies for Hypersonix.)

Learn more about the Open Voice Network

Learn more about Hypersonix