The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in household gadgets is “gigantic,” reported by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Speaking to the Code conference here, Bezos, whose company has a hit on its hand together with the Echo connected speaker, said, “It’s hard to overstate how big of an impact this will have on society over the next 20 years. It is big. Smart technology doesn’t mean phones are going to go away or that voice actions will replace screens. As long as people have eyes, they have screens.”
Smart homes? Wait until you see this
The Echo speaker can turn on lights, access online music and answer queries by waking the speaker by stating the word Alexa. Amazon hasn’t revealed sales stats but says the item is hard to keep on hand. Bezos said Amazon has 1,000 people concentrating on Alexa and the Echo.
“It has been a dream from the early days of sci-fi to have a computer to talk to, and that’s coming true,” Bezos said.
The success of Amazon’s Echo has struck a chord with competitors. Google will release a similar product, Google Home, later this year, and Apple is said to be seeking to launch a connected speaker too.
According to Bezos, “this is the first inning … there is so much more to come. We’re the first guys up to bat. We’re on the edge of a golden era.”
Sentiments that AI is the next big thing were echoed Wednesday at the same conference. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company sensed a shift happening in AI three or four years ago and made a transformation internally. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates called AI “the holy grail.”
Amazon swung to a profit on $29 billion in sales in the first quarter, mostly because of its core online retail business and its fast-growing cloud operations. But it continues to be pushing hard into entertainment, which Bezos said benefits the retail business.
Amazon Studios has been making its mark in Hollywood, where it’s competing with Netflix to offer you first-run programming for streaming. Amazon’s Transparent won five Emmys last year, including best lead actor for Jeffrey Tambor’s performance, and Amazon is set to release Woody Allen’s latest film in theaters. The director is also producing a comedy series for Amazon’s Prime members.
Bezos said Prime Video has become a great driver to both help renew subscriptions to the Prime membership, which offers video streaming and faster shipping, and sell more products too.
