I hate to say this: Artificial intelligence (AI) as a technology is maturing. Far from the stuff of science fiction, AI has moved from the exclusive regimes of theoretical mathematics and advanced hardware to an everyday aspect of life. Over the last several years of exponentially accelerating development and proliferation, our needs and requirements for mature AI systems have begun to crystallize. Trust is not an internal quality of an AI system like accuracy, or even fairness. Instead, it's a characteristic of the human-machine relationship formed with an AI system.

Aldous Huxley claimed that "most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted." While Huxley wasn't writing about voice-assisted devices, his understanding of our propensity to cheerlead new technology without fully acknowledging what we sacrifice perfectly captures the new world of voice interfaces ushered in by Amazon's Echo and Google Home. Scientific advancement is valued in a world fueled by willful ignorance and collective complacency about what's being left behind. Although published in the early 1930s, his book raises questions that are still important. Considering the evolution of voice-based smart home devices, it's worth asking: What exactly are we getting into here?