Voice Assistants Like Alexa Lack Consistency In Delivering Emergency Information: Study
If you ardently use Amazon's Alexa to get your queries answered and more, using such voice assistants might not be the greatest idea in the case of an emergency. A recent study looked at the ability of voice assistants like Amazon Alexa to provide essential information of CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
What does the study say?
Dr. Adam Landman, the study's lead author assessed the responses given by various voice assistants when CPR-related questions were posed. Turns out, only 59% of the responses carried relevant CPR information, highlighting the drawback of such services in the case of emergencies.
Using Alexa or similar voice assistants to seek critical instructions like CPR doesn't appear to be a reliable method based on inconsistencies found during the study. Such AI devices are are not able to deliver accurate and comprehensive life-saving advice, highlighting their limitations in such situations.
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"We found that when we asked questions related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation to AI voice assistants, (the answers) really lacked relevance and even came back with inconsistencies," Landman told CNN.
What may be done?
Dr. Landman added that collaborations with tech companies may be undertaken in the future to improve the quality of CPR instructions given by voice assistants like Alexa.
Even though most voice assistants are helpful in basic queries, using them for medical advice even in instances of emergency might not be prudent. Researchers asked eight question related to CPR instructions of Alexa on the Echo Show 5, Apple's Siri assistant on an iPhone, Google Assistant on the Next Mini, and Microsoft Cortana on Windows 10.
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According to CNN, two board certified emergency medicine doctors used transcripts to study the accuracy of the voice assistant's responses. Landman suggests that standardisation of a few phrases can help people find the exact information they might be after, especially in life-threatening situations.
Music may also be helpful. "One of the challenges in bystander CPR is ensuring that laypersons keep the appropriate rate of compressions," Landman said. For instance, the report says, the beat of ¡°Staying Alive¡± by the Bee Gees might be a helpful guide.
Even then, you must reach out to emergency authorities in case you feel symptoms of a cardiac arrest. What do you think about this illuminating study? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com?and?click here?for our how-to guides.
