Chapter 12 Personality and Art

Pei Qian cleared his throat twice. "So, do you have any ideas about how to specifically make this smart voice assistant?"

Chang You was a bit puzzled. "Uh... President Pei, what do you mean by 'ideas'?"

Pei Qian explained, "Pineapple phones have smart voice assistants, and Shenhua Group and some other companies must also be considering developing their own smart voice assistants, right?"

"Even if we can be a little faster than other domestic companies, we definitely won't be much faster. After all, this technology belongs to Xunke Technology, and everyone can use it."

"Then how can we ensure that our smart voice assistant stands out from the smart voice assistants of many companies?"

Chang You was stunned. "Uh..."

"President Pei, this is probably very difficult to achieve in the short term."

"Most companies should be directly using Xunke Technology's existing technology. We have no accumulation in this area. Even if we optimize some details, it is impossible to widen the gap with other companies in a short time."

"Moreover, current voice assistants are called 'artificial intelligence' in a nice way, but the actual workflow is 'recognize voice, judge meaning, execute operation,' which is to judge the user's intention through some keywords and cannot really understand the meaning."

"To make a voice assistant easy to use, it is less of a technical job and more of a physical one to some extent."

"So, even if we put in the effort to develop it, it is impossible to widen the gap with other companies' smart voice assistants in terms of practicality."

"Or... does President Pei have a better idea?"

Pei Qian smiled slightly. "Without considering the technical level, there are many ways to create unique features."

"For example, its personality."

Chang You was taken aback. "Personality? President Pei, I just said that this voice assistant cannot truly understand the meaning of our words."

Pei Qian nodded. "I know. The so-called 'personality' is actually just a kind of packaging."

"If I'm not mistaken, the smart voice assistants made by Xunke Technology and most companies should all have sweet voices and be very polite, right? They are all trying to get closer to real human voices, right?"

Chang You nodded. "Yes, yes, can it be made into other forms?"

Pei Qian: "Of course."

"Aeeis should be made into a purely electronic mechanical sound, without any emotion. And all the answers should be extremely concise, never saying more than one word."

Chang You was stunned. "But, President Pei, this will make our voice assistant seem particularly stupid."

"If the user asks a question, if Aeeis answers in a particularly concise way, the user may not react or may not hear clearly, so they will ask again. If the two answers are the same, it will be very stupid."

"Using a pure electronic mechanical sound will make it even more stupid."

"Other voice assistants basically use some ready-made, pre-recorded sentence patterns, which gives users reaction time on the one hand and can make them appear more natural and intelligent on the other hand."

"For example, if a user asks 'What will the temperature be tomorrow?', the current approach is to automatically identify the keywords and answer: Hello, I have checked the weather conditions for tomorrow for you. It will be sunny tomorrow, xx to xx degrees, and the wind will be like this and that."

"The more information, the smarter the voice assistant seems."

"If we follow President Pei's approach, we would directly answer: xx to xx degrees."

"If the user doesn't hear clearly, they will ask again, and Aeeis will directly answer xx degrees to xx degrees, giving people a very rigid and dull feeling."

Pei Qian thought for a while. "Hmm... that seems to be a problem."

"Then let's do this, if the user asks the same question twice, change the way you answer it."

"For example, if the user asks what the temperature will be tomorrow, the first answer is xx to xx degrees, and the second time they ask, answer: xx to xx degrees, you just asked this question, should I navigate to the nearest hospital to check for diseases that may affect hearing or memory?"

Chang You was stunned. "President, President Pei, we can't insult our users..."

Pei Qian smiled slightly. "How is this an insult? This is clearly expressing concern for the user."

"Aeeis is a refined and easygoing smart voice assistant that cannot swear. It will only answer the user's questions very straightforwardly and will express 'concern' for the user from time to time."

"This highlights Aeeis' personality: it is a very smart intelligent voice system. It is precisely because it is so smart that it only answers the questions you ask, very directly and concisely."

"Moreover, it is precisely because it is so smart that if you repeatedly ask it the same question, it will think you are stupid and offer 'kind concern'."

"Wouldn't this completely distinguish it from other smart voice systems?"

Chang You's mouth was slightly open, his expression confused, and he didn't recover for a long time.

He always felt that something was wrong, a big problem!

"Then... President Pei, for Aeeis's voice, should we use a male or female voice? Should we find a good voice actor to dub it or something?"

Pei Qian was about to say "a very unpleasant male voice," but then he thought it was wrong.

The precedent of *Game Producer*!

At that time, he used Lu Mingliang to dub it, and something went wrong. Even now, many players still regard that cheap male voice as a classic.

Then, a female voice?

That won't work either. With this refined and easygoing personality, it might attract countless fans and debut as a virtual idol on the spot.

Pei Qian thought carefully for a while: "Emotionless electronic sound, neither male nor female."

A neutral electronic sound should be fine, right?

Chang You was very dazed, quickly recording in his notebook, and the more he thought about it, the less reliable it seemed.

But since President Pei had already said it, he would still do it.

If the effect is not good, it can be changed later.

Pei Qian continued, "By the way, are you planning to make a smart speaker for it?"

"In other words, in addition to the Otto phone, you are also installing this smart system on speakers?"

Chang You nodded. "Yes, President Pei."

"As far as I know, some other companies are also doing similar projects."

"Because it is a smart voice, it must have a speaker."

"Since it has a speaker, it is most practical to make it in the form of a Bluetooth speaker. This is a very normal business idea."

Pei Qian shook his head. "This idea is too common!"

"If others make speakers and we also make speakers, then we can only compare the parameters and shapes of the speakers, which is meaningless."

"We should inject soul into it, inject artistry."

Chang You was in awe. "Inject soul? Inject artistry? Can President Pei be more specific?"

Pei Qian cleared his throat twice. "Combine this smart speaker with the automatic argument machine and make it the Aeeis Artificial Intelligence Argument Machine!"

Chang You: "Huh?"

He almost thought he had misheard.

Automatic argument machine... wasn't that the handicraft that President Pei designed before?

Wasn't that the square black box where the metal stick would pop up automatically when pressed?

Combine a smart speaker with this thing?

This is too mismatched!

This time, Chang You was really shocked. If the previous requirements were still reasonable, this one was too psychedelic!

Chang You quickly said, "President Pei, please think twice!"

"I also bought an automatic argument machine. Although it is indeed very thought-provoking and has very profound philosophical implications, the space inside has basically been occupied, right?"

"There is no way to fit a smart speaker in it!"

"If you want to combine these two things, it means that the automatic argument machine has to be redesigned and re-produced."

"But a lot of the original automatic argument machines have already been sold, and those who want to buy them have already bought them. The new version of the artificial intelligence argument machine will definitely be difficult to sell!"

"The automatic argument machine sells for 488, and this smart speaker should sell for at least 300, which adds up to almost 800 yuan, which is too expensive."

"People who have already bought the automatic argument machine, how can they be willing to buy it again?"

"The most important thing is that these two things, they have no connection with each other at all."

Pei Qian was silent for a moment. "There is... a connection."

"The automatic argument machine, its essence is a kind of argumentative spirit. But an argumentative person who cannot speak is not a complete argumentative person."

"As the saying goes, an argumentative person relies on speaking to argue, and is not afraid to argue all over the world."

"On the other hand, what about smart speakers? No personality, no characteristics, no artistic connotation."

"If it is combined with an art piece like the automatic argument machine, then our smart speaker will have characteristics and artistic connotation."

"So it evolved into the Aeeis Artificial Intelligence Argument Machine!"

"When customers are playing the automatic argument machine, Aeeis will also chat with them kindly, saying things like 'Humans always waste their time on meaningless things'."

"Isn't this a good match?"

"Moreover, speakers must be high-end. A speaker that costs two hundred or so can only produce a sound, which lowers the tone."

"Most companies should make it around 200 yuan, and the competition is too fierce. We should still implement the previous principle of differentiated competition."

"There will definitely be no one competing with us in the 2,000 yuan or more range."

"Directly spend money to make it around 2,000 yuan, plus the cost of the automatic argument machine, make it 2588 for me!"

"This product will be unique, and there will be no similar products appearing for several months or even a year or two after our product is launched!"

Chang You was stunned.

He blinked, feeling like something was wrong, but he didn't know how to refute it.

No similar products will appear for several months or even a year or two? President Pei, you are being too conservative. I am afraid that you will not see similar products in your lifetime!

Combine the automatic argument machine and the smart speaker into an artificial intelligence argument machine?

How did you come up with this idea!

Chang You wanted to say something more, but thinking about President Pei's previous strategizing and brilliant calculations, he silently swallowed it back.

However, he wrote down everything President Pei said in his notebook.

"Okay, President Pei, we will do it as you said."

"The Aeeis Artificial Intelligence Argument Machine is our first attempt to enter the field of artificial intelligence home furnishings."

Pei Qian smiled and nodded. "Well, I believe this will be a good start!"