AI will be the Next Great User Interface – Once it has Emotional Intelligence - The Blend: A West Monroe Partners Blog

In December Amazon made my holiday shopping as effortless as it's ever been. In a not-so-subtle attempt to get its Alexa Voice Service technology on a smooth surface in every home around the globe, the world's leading online retailer slashed the price of its second-generation Echo Dot to $39.99, and moved nine times more units than it had in the previous holiday season. Amazon touts Echo's ability to read the news, report traffic and weather, provide sports scores and schedules, control the lights, locks, and sprinklers, order your preferred pizza, and "so much more!" In the face of all these capabilities, the first questions my siblings and I asked of Alexa may come as a surprise. Rather than requesting music or the news, we asked Alexa to sing a song, tell a joke, or give us some insight into'her' day.