Originally published by J. H. Cromwell on February 26, 2019
Every single time you ask Siri, Alexa, Google, etc. a question, it answers back. And even if you are screaming from across the house or whispering to your nightstand, it hears you. But what if you are just asking your roommate to pass the ketchup? Guess what? It’s still listening.
If you want proof, go to your iPhone’s settings and select “Listen for Siri”. When that mode is activated, your iPhone can be anywhere in listening range, and if you say, “Hey Siri”, it will respond. If you say, “good morning Siri” it will not. It is listening to every single word that you say. And if it picks up another person’s voice, it will listen to that as well. And if you have your speaker playing music in the background, it will even listen to that. Sound waves bounce, and they can be picked up by these technologically advanced devices and their equally advanced microphones.
Why is it listening? We live in the age of data, and currently we have tons of it. Companies love to pay for data in order to help their own profits and advertising loves to target the most precise markets. Data is a whole new topic though and will be discussed in more depth in further pieces.
Overall, the technology is here for this to be a possibility and people are starting to notice many situations linked to listening technology that cannot be just a coincidence.
