Once we read HG Wells and Arthur C. Clarke for sci-fiction. Now, we read PC World.
Once, we went to the cinema to learn about AI. Now, we go to Curry’s.
We have come a long way.
“Watson, come here!” were the first words said by Alexander Graham Bell when he made his first successful phone call in Boston on March 10, 1876.
On May 13th 1896, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first telegraphic message across open water from Brean Down Fort in Somerset across the Bristol Channel to Laverock in south Wales.
It read, “Can you hear me?”
And , in 2023, five years after a couple from Gateshead in north England, claimed that their baby’s first words were “Alexa”, we can now instruct our AI butler, “ Alexis, please put the kettle on.”
Connectivity has a long history.
In 1841, Samuel Morse invented the telegraph. In 1886, Heinrich Hertz “discovered” the radio wave 1886) and, in 1890, Édouard Branly designed the radio wave receiver. Marconi realized the first hertzian transmission between England and France (1899) then America and Europe (1902).Canadian Reginald Fessenden succeeded in the first transatlantic exchange in Morse code (1906) and in the same year, transmitted the first voice. A woman singing gospel.
It was only a question of time before someone invented a voice-activated kettle.
Boilermaker Walter Bulpitt of Bulpitt & Sons introduced the first immersible electric element in 1922 , allowing six pints of water to be boiled in nine minutes. The first electric kettle was invented in 1891 in the US by Carpenter Electrical Company of Chicago This electric kettle took nearly 12 minutes come to the boil. Later, they patented a safety cut-out. Bulpitt became the Swan Brand responsible for the Swan Alexa kettle.
The new Swan Alexa kettle may not sing can be activated remotely to boil water to the desired temperature and programmed to boil based on routine. The Alexa app also advises users when water is running low and a refill is required. And alert you regarding descaling. The revolutionary smart kettle delivers “next generation convenience” as well as perfectly-made tea and coffee at your chosen temperature whenever you feel like a cuppa. Although you have to add the teabags and coffee granules.
Home hubs have changed our lives, 75 % of the world’s 5.3 billion phone owners ( 66% of the world’s population and counting ) are smartphone owners. Using a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions, Apple’s Siri resulted from a project developed by the Artificial Intelligence Center of Sri International and the Vrai Group at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
The original American, British and Australian voices were recorded in 2005.The brainchild of Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Tom Gruber, Siri was named after a Norwegian colleague, being the short form of Sigrid and Siiridr, reportedly meaning “victory” and beautiful”. Sir’s female voice is that of Susan Bennett and the original male one provided by Jon Briggs, a former technology journalist and voice behind the BBC’s “The Weakest Link”.
Steve Jobs’ Apple Siri came out in 2011 as Amazon was started developing its Echo devices in its Lab 156 in Silicon Valley and in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “Project D” followed Kindle and Fire Phone. It was supposed to be called the Amazon Flash and its “wake word ( the word that makes device responsive) “Amazon”.
Allegedly inspired by the communication system on Star Trek’s US Enterprise, the Jeff Bekos and Dave Isbitski-led design was released in March 2014 for Amazon members. Amazon developers chose the name Alexa because it has a hard consonant with the X, which helps it be recognized with higher precision. They have said the name is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria. Alexa’s voice is thought to be that of Colorado actress and singer, Nina Rolle. It was followed in 2016 by Amazon Echo Dot and, three years afterwards, by Alexa Guard which detects the sound of smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, or glass breaking, it will send alerts to the Alexa app on smartphones.
Every home now has a smart hub and nearly every family a Virtual Assistant.
Boasting countless applications and integrations, Amazon Echo can be connected to everything from TVs, music systems, thermostats, humidifiers, lightbulbs, plugs, dog and cat feeders, door locks, security systems, vacuums, microwaves to printers. And now the £80 two-year guarantee, 1.5L, 8-10 cups from one boil Alexa Swan kettle.
Never will a “Can you make me a cup of tea, please” remain unanswered and unfulfilled. Alexa’s voice recognition capability is more advanced than a human being’s. A multi-lingual private virtual servant’s long-term short memory is much better and its neural network more trustworthy. Our phones are now capable of telling us where to go for the closest best afternoon tea.
Where will it all end?
Co-founders Maxwell Deng and Martin Khormai have just debuted Chef AI , a technology that cincludes weight sensors built into the legs of the product, essentially making the appliance one big scale. Along with a built-in thermal camera, this allows the system to understand what’s cooking inside, down to the olives on a pizza, so you don’t need to input you’re cooking. A custom chip receives that information so that it knows the time and temperature to cook that specific food without using a probe. It is also able to detect calories, sodium and other macros in the food. The only necessary button ta start/stop. All other settings like the mode (bake/broil/air fry) are chosen on an app. The door opens automatically and closes once you walk away from it.
Brisk It is the first AI Vera-controlled grill oven. The Aerogarden Bounty Elite is a hydroponic LED system which allows you to grow your own herbs and vegetables beside your cooker without soil or sunlight , freeing up the window sill for orchids who will notify you when they need watering.
The showrooms of former Leicester bicycle makers Curry’s, now based in Waterloo, London are filled with WiF-i-enabled ovens ( Samsung 4), self-cleaning ovens, AI-integrated dishwashers ( Bosch Series 2 ), the latest sous-vide style technology Integrated dishwashers and talk-to-them-and-tell -them-what-to air fryers.
Human ingenuity and our need to be lazy being what it is, sooner rather than later, someone somewhere is bound to invent a smart cheese grater, a smart pepper mill, a voice-activated can opener and, doubtless, an app which allows you to make hot chocolate and ice cubes from your sofa.
Technology knows no limits. Very soon in the future, even cutlery might be redundant
We will have labour-saving, Google Assistant gadgets to feed us as well as cook for us and make elevensies.
A hand-free toaster may not be the stuff of science-fiction.
Anything is possible.
The Bluetooth-compatible MIA Spice Rack will illuminate the containers of the spices you can use in your chosen dish.
The KIM smart Meal Maker chopping board will suggest recipes when you place the available ingredients on it….
