Adapting to Alexa: why the College needs to catch up to the new trend of voice-control technology
By Will Kaback ’20, Opinion Editor
Editor’s note: the views expressed on the Opinion pages are those of our writers and are not necessarily representative of the Editorial Board.
We have reached such an advanced point in our technological capabilities that sometimes all that is left to do is joke about it. Look no further than a recent Saturday Night Live skit that parodies Amazon’s wildly popular Echo device, imagining the voice-based service as it might be used by the elderly.
Dubbed “Amazon Echo Silver,” the updated device is described as being designed “specifically for use by the Greatest Generation.” A gray-haired and bespectacled Kenan Thompson is seen putting Alexa to the test.
“Allegra!” he shouts at it. “How many did ol’ Satchel strike out last night?,” to which Alexa replies, “Satchel Paige died in 1982.”
Undeterred, Thompson replies, “And how many did he get?”
Where the original Echo might have faltered, the Echo Silver coolly says, “Satchel Paige is dead.”
“He what now?” says Thompson.
“Died,” says Alexa.
“Who did?” he asks.
“Satchel Paige,” she says.
At this point, Thompson mutters, “Uh-huh,” then looks at the device critically and counters, “I don’t know about that.”
This sketch — part-Abbott and Costello, part-telemarketing spoof, part-gentle jab at the latest fad — is hilarious, but also an incredible look into what a technology-infused future will look like. Because as outrageous as it is, the skit is strikingly close to reality.
Anyone who has seen one of Amazon’s Echo devices (or the Google Home or Apple’s soon-to-be-released HomePod) in action has seen the next great leap forward in commercial technology. I would argue that the last time the public was introduced to a device with this much potential to reshape our day-to-day lives, it was a decade ago, when Steve Jobs presented the very first iPhone.
These voice-based devices are different from similar technology that currently exists, like Siri on those aforementioned iPhones. While many of the features appear to be the same at first glance, the potential of Echo and its counterparts is only just beginning to be understood. Amazon has bet big on this technology, and so far the results have exceeded even their sizeable expectations. Between November 2016 and January 2017, the number of Amazon Echo users shot up 60 percent, increasing from 5.1 million to 8.2 million people in that short period of time, according to GeekWire. Much of this boom can be attributed to holiday shopping, but the Echo has maintained this momentum up to the current day. Amazon, no doubt keen to further corner the market, has also begun to expand the range of Alexa-enabled devices, most recently releasing the Echo Show, an Alexa device with a touchscreen and camera to allow for video calling, in addition to the thousands of other features earlier versions of the Echo offer.
My family loves the Echo — so much so that we have three of them. When I am home, I am always amazed by the symbiotic relationship that continues to develop between the device and its users. In the morning, Alexa offers an in-depth weather forecast, the news stories from the previous night, and plays soothing wake-up music. Throughout the day, she tells topical jokes, offers traffic suggestions, and gradually learns and adjusts to your schedule. Ask her what she thinks about the Alexa Silver and she will reply, “Uh-huh. I don’t know about that.” Even the technology is in on its own joke.
It can be easy to forget you are talking to a discrete, stationary cylinder during these interactions, but even when one stops to consider this strange reality, the “futuristic” nature of the entire apparatus almost makes it more fun. And while there have been countless critiques and dire dystopian warnings about such devices (Her, anyone?), it really is incredible how seamlessly they can simplify your life. So when I bought an Echo device of my own to use in my dorm room this year, I was dismayed to find that the College lacked both the network infrastructure and desire to accommodate such an exciting new technology.
The problem was simple: I was not able to use my Hamilton credentials to connect the Echo to Wi-Fi, a small but vital step to using the device’s features. When I reached out to LITS to try and resolve the issue, I was told that the College simply does not support any Amazon devices.
I was perplexed and disappointed. Perplexed because I did not understand how connecting to a network I knew to work on every Apple and Windows device was suddenly incompatible with a similar technology, and disappointed that the College’s technology services seemed so unwilling to even look into the issue. I talked to other students who bought an Echo or Amazon Fire Stick to use for their television, I heard the same qualm — LITS had told them it was not possible to connect Amazon devices to the network and there were no prospects for gaining access in the future. I also looked online to see if other colleges were experiencing similar problems, and, sure enough, there was an entire community of college students, professors, and professionals who had bought their own Echo devices, only to be uniformly shut down when trying to get them online.
As I read more, I learned that this issue is not solely the College’s fault. We are all familiar with the “aps-hamilton,” WPA2 Enterprise system we use to connect our phones and computers to the College Wi-Fi, but this (somewhat obscure) network does not currently allow devices like Echo to connect (although there is still the great irony that the College uses Amazon Web Services for its Wi-Fi).
While this insight helped me understand the root of my problem, it did not explain why there seemed to be no prospect of the College ever adapting their network to this burgeoning voice-control technology. Left with what was now a glorified speaker only a few, excruciatingly close steps away from having its full potential unlocked, I decided to keep searching.
It turns out that Hamilton (and the other colleges with connection issues) have already fallen behind their peers on this trend. Amazon and Alexa have started making their way into higher education and onto college campuses — for those that will have them. As first reported by EdSurge this past August, Amazon has begun working with colleges and universities around the country to implement its devices into class curriculum and for casual use. At Arizona State University, Amazon gave 1,600 free Echos to engineering students for their personal use and experimentation. One of the coolest features of the Echo is that it allows users to write their own “Skills” that they can use to personalize their devices, such as customized news briefings, trivia, room temperature adjustments, and countless other possibilities. These students would be able to use the device for their own benefit while also, in the words of a university spokesperson, “gain[ing] skills in voice technology, an emerging field.”
There is also the Amazon Alexa Fund Fellowship, a program for college students and professors to learn how to use voice technology and develop curriculum that is buoyed by its use. Currently, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Southern California, and Johns Hopkins University are all a part of the Fellowship. This year, they will award $2.5 million to any university that is working on pioneering new ideas in voice-based artificial intelligence, dubbed the Alexa Prize.
Furthermore, Amazon is encouraging other developers of educational software to utilize its Alexa system as they create services for colleges and universities. Already, Canvas, a learning management system analogous to Blackboard, has taken the first steps to be Alexa-enabled. Evidently, Amazon is eager to work with colleges and universities to integrate their technology, and is willing to cover most of the costs to do so. Any tech- or trend-savvy school would be smart to take advantage of this reality and seek to connect with Amazon as some have done already.
Even without Amazon’s support, schools are utilizing voice-control devices in a variety of ways. At Utah State University, a visually impaired instructor uses an Echo to supplement his lessons while also simplifying basic, but taken-for-granted tasks like turning on the projector and dimming classroom lights. Other schools have created custom Alexa Skills that allow students to quiz themselves, with Alexa shooting course-specific questions at them and analyzing their responses. Only three years removed from Echo’s launch, technologically-aware schools are already figuring out how to use the devices to help out its students and teachers.
Beyond its educational potential though, voice-controlled technology has the ability to vastly improve the quality and ease of life on campus. Imagine waking up in the morning to gray, ambiguous skies and wondering what the forecast for the day holds. Sure, you could use a weather app on your phone or computer, but why do that when you could simply say, “Alexa, what’s the weather for today?” without moving from your bed and receive an in-depth, hourly forecast spoken back to you in an instant?
How about those of us who like to stay up-to-date on current events (or are required to for a class)? Alexa will not only tell you the top stories of the day, but also play you news clips directly from the source while you are changing or getting ready to leave your room.
On a basic level, Alexa can bring you a little bit of joy or distraction when you need it most. Whether that is in the form of a cheesy joke, Jeopardy-like trivia, or an update on a sports score is up to you; but that is the point — it is up to you! The infinitely customizable and impressive adaptability of the technology means that the more you use it, the more it understands you and makes your life easier. And with intense competition between Amazon, Google, Apple, and other companies, the entire industry is sure to rapidly build on its already incredibly useful features and user interactions.
What it comes down to is this: voice-control technology, whether from Amazon or anyone else, represents the next wave of progress in commercial devices. Given these companies’ willingness (and eagerness) to work with colleges and universities to implement their devices on campus for educational and recreational use, it would be a shame for Hamilton to lag behind its peers simply because it refuses to adapt its Wi-Fi network.
Additionally, as skills like coding become more and more valued in virtually every career field, gaining competency in emerging technological areas like these would help Hamilton students become better prepared for life after college, while also exposing us to new career possibilities. Whether your interest lies in STEM, English, History, Theater, Anthropology, or any other subject, these devices have already demonstrated their ability to stimulate learning and engagement on multiple levels.
Hamilton should follow the lead of Arizona State, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, and the other schools who have already made a conscious effort to keep themselves and their students on the cutting edge of this exciting technological world.
