 Dag Kittlaus is the Co-Founder and CEO of Siri. He is a serial innovator and consumer wireless Internet veteran of 10 years in both Scandinavia and the US. Siri is Dag’s third consecutive mobile product.
In the near future, anyone who lives a connected lifestyle will be able to delegate their everyday tasks to intelligent virtual assistants that will coordinate, execute and simplify users’ lives.
We will look back on these days and ask ourselves how we ever got by without our trusted assistants, the same way my kids ask in amazement about how we ever got things done before laptops and the Internet.
What Constitutes a Virtual Assistant?
For a long time, Hollywood has been portraying machines that humans can converse with, delegate tasks to, and command. Remember the HAL 9000, KITT the car, COMPUTER from Star Trek, or even the brilliantly conceived and visualized Apple “Knowledge Navigator” from over 20 years ago?
They have symbolized our desire for trusted machine assistants that can help make our lives easier. They have persisted in the creative works of science fiction writers for decades. But have you ever asked yourself why that is? Looking beyond the theatrical and dramatic value of these ideas, the reality is simple — we have always desired more help, less hassle, and higher productivity in our lives.
What about search engines? Aren’t they the modern day version of this? No, at least not the search engines of today.
Search is a fantastic tool to help you find information on the Internet, but try to ask a search engine to actually do something for you. Try typing “get me a seat on the next flight from Chicago to Seattle” and see what happens. Or ask your favorite search engine to book you a table for three at Gibson’s steakhouse in Chicago for the day after tomorrow. Today’s paradigm of 10 blue links doesn’t cut it, and we need a new tool to help.
We need software that is specifically designed to help you get things done — a “Do Engine” rather than a search engine: A virtual assistant.
Intelligent Cohesion of the Tools We Already UseHere is the good news: The elements, technology and ecosystem needed to build machines and software that can automate many of the mundane tasks of our lives are here already.
We just need to add a little intelligence. It will take some time, maybe 3-5 years, for the concept to mature. But when it does, it will emerge as the most frequently used and trusted online tool. It will make the most common actions on the web as simple as having a conversation. It will integrate into your life, get to know you, and be proactive.
In some sense your smartphone is starting to work like this already. There are already tens of thousands of services, apps, and sites that help you find and do things on the web and in the world. The problem is that they are all islands unto themselves, typically focused on a limited domain, and don’t often work together. They rarely share data or context with each other, have different user interfaces, and require users to spend a good amount of time to discover them, sign up, and get started. In terms of unified personal services, it’s not ideal.
Virtual assistants will help unify these and get them work together at your command. It would be nice to simply pull out your phone one day and tell it to move your 3 p.m. meeting to 5 p.m. and alert everyone invited of the change. That day is coming sooner than you think.
A New Chapter for the Web There is a direct relationship between simplicity and user engagement on the web. Less clicks means more users — period. When combined with tools like smartphones, virtual assistants will migrate user interactions towards a far more frictionless e-commerce, consumption and collaboration model.
You will soon pick up your phone and start asking your assistant things like “take me to live CNN news,” “send my dad the latest John Grisham book,” or “tell Adam I am running 20 minutes late,” and you will then watch it all happen. This evolution towards simplicity of interaction will reduce the barrier to almost everything you use your mobile device to do.
The Anatomy of the Virtual Assistant The OS of virtual assistants will be the Internet itself, as Kevin Kelly postulated years ago. The brains will be AIs that are developed by software companies for both general purpose and targeted domains. The arms and legs will be web APIs (many of your favorite brands and services), and the connective tissue will be authentication protocols like OAuth and Open Social, and trust circles like those of Facebook.
The rapid maturation of technologies that enable free-form interaction such as natural language processing and speech recognition have vastly improved, to the point of gaining real adoption in many applications today (e.g. Google Speech, Nuance Dragon Dictation, Ford Sync for cars). Virtual assistants will leverage these inputs and begin to integrate them with conversations for a simpler, more natural way to get things done. This concept was best described by the late pioneer from MIT, Michael Dertouzos, who called it “human-centric computing.”
Over the long term, this paradigm will expand to many (or most) of the online services and tools we use to manage our lives like booking, buying, reserving, reminding, and scheduling. As we build trust in our digital “partner” we will put more and more onto its to-do list.
Trust is Key The vague promises of contextual awareness, personalization, and other generalizations have rarely materialized in real products on the web. We are wary of what personal information we share online, in search engines, and the the never-ending fear of credit card fraud still looms. But this game is changing with the open web.
Mark Zuckerberg is indeed correct that privacy is dead on the Internet among the digital generation. Hundreds of millions of people spend a great deal of time telling the world all about their personal interests and information that forms their “digital face” on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others. This will only expand as the demonstrable benefits of this effort become more apparent.
The paradigm shift we will see with virtual assistants is that providing them with access to your preferences, tastes, accounts and more will be the cornerstone of the simplicity they will enable (within a very secure environment, of course). In other words, where we once feared how long search engines kept our personal information, we will now go out of our way to expend time and effort to specifically provide our trusted assistant detailed information about ourselves.
This will be done both manually and via syncing with existing sources of our personal data such as Facebook profiles, iTunes music lists, and contacts. The point is that you will make your virtual assistant definitively yours.
2010 and BeyondThe experience will be like hiring a new assistant that doesn’t yet know you, but eventually becomes so familiar that you can’t live without him or her. Keep your eyes on this space, try out these products as they emerge, and prepare to make your life a bit simpler over the next few years.
As John Battelle has said: “The future of search is a conversation with someone you trust.” 2010 will be the year in which we start to see real progress towards this vision, on many fronts.
 Disclaimer: This tutorial was tested under BDO (Banco De Oro) ATM (Debit) card with Online Banking feature. If your card is under a different Bank, please inquire about their Online Banking feature.
With your Paypal verified, you can withdraw unlimited amounts to your account. Please follow these steps and enjoy the perks of being verified.
I assume you have already registered an account with Paypal. So let’s get your ATM (Debit) card connected!
- Connect your debit or credit card to the system. Paypal will ask you different questions about your card including the number and billing address. They will also ask you for the expiration date and security code. Paypal will send a 4-digit pin code. This usually goes through right away, sometimes it can take up to two days though.
- Paypal needs to confirm your verification using a 4-digit pin code sent to your Bank Statement. Since ATM (debit) card from BDO (Banco de Oro) doesn’t send one to your mailing address, you need to request for it. They usually charge 10 pesos per page. But IF you have your Online Banking feature enabled, it’s easy! Proceed to the next instruction.
- Open a new window tab, and go to https://www.mybdo.com.ph/ and login to your account. Click “My Portfolio” and scroll to “My Transactions“. Configure “Transaction Date” under Preset Date with Last 7 Days and click Submit. Result will look something like this: POS W/D SV PP (1234 E xxxxxxxxxx MC SGP xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Use 1234 as the pin code beside PP.
- Go back to your Paypal account and click confirm debit card. Input your 4-digit pin code you retrieve from previous step. Click submit.
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Getting Verified Means More Security for You
When you’re sending and receiving money, “Verified” status is your stamp of approval. It lets other members know you’re a confirmed PayPal member with a current, active bank account. Boost your credibility and the overall security of the PayPal network.
Is It Safe to Enter My Personal Information?
Yes! PayPal uses the absolute latest encryption technologies to keep your account information safe and secure. The information we ask for is already available at the bottom of every cheque you write. Your security is our top priority. We never reveal your personal information to anyone…ever.
 Renée is so much more… perceptive than Charlie in some ways. It was making me jumpy.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.66
Your mother has a very interesting mind. Almost childlike, but very insightful. She sees things differently than other people.
Edward Cullen, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.66
There’s something… strange about the way you two are together. The way he watches you — it’s so… protective. Like he’s about to throw himself in front of a bullet to save you or something.
Renée Dwyer, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.67
He’s very intense about you… and very careful. I feel like I don’t really understand your relationship. Like there’s some secret I’m missing…
Renée Dwyer, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.67
The way you move — you orient yourself around him without even thinking about it. When he moves, even a little bit, you adjust your position at the same time. Like magnets… or gravity. You’re like a… satellite, or something.
Renée Dwyer, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.68
I really missed you, Bells. The food around here sucks when you’re gone.
Charlie Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.70
I knew Jake inside and out. It shouldn’t be that complicated to figure out his motivations.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.73
I think… I think he was checking. Checking to make sure. That I’m human, I mean.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.75
If I asked you to do something, would you trust me?
Edward Cullen, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.75
I’d forgotten how much this face bothered me. Though I’d gotten to know Sam pretty well before the Cullens had come back — to like him, even — I’d never been able to completely shake the resentment I felt when Jacob mimicked Sam’s expression. It was a stranger’s face. He wasn’t my Jacob when he wore it.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.76
With a sense of astonishment, I realized that Jacob looked dangerous to them. How odd.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.77
Sorry. I don’t have any leeches on my speed dial.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.77
Edward cut him off mid-sentence, and his face was abruptly frightening — truly frightening. For a second, he looked like… like avampire.
Bella Swan, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.79
Better frightened than lied to.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.81
She’s tougher than you think. And she’s been through worse.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.81
It’s nothing, Bella. Jacob just has a good memory, that’s all.
Edward Cullen, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.82
It’s his own fault if he doesn’t like the things I remember, though.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.82
I think I might have been wrong before, you know, about not being able to be friends. Maybe we could manage it, on my side of the line. Come see me.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.83
I miss you every day, Bella. It’s not the same without you.
Jacob Black, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.83
I wasn’t about to send you off alone. With your luck, not even the black box would survive.
Edward Cullen, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.88
I’d wait till we were close enough to the ground, get a good grip on you, kick out the wall, and jump. Then I’d run you back to the scene of the accident, and we’d stumble around like the two luckiest survivors in history.
Edward Cullen, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.88
Did you see the size of that Jacob kid? I think he could take Cullen down.
Mike Newton, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.90
There’s something about Edward. He’s always so… confident. I have a feeling he can take care of himself.
Ben Cheney, Eclipse, Chapter 3, p.90
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