Apple’s upcoming virtual assistant must maintain a neutral demeanor

In 2014, engineers from Microsoft in China introduced the experimental Xiaoice (also pronounced as “Shao-ice,” which translates to “Little Bing”). The virtual assistant emphasizes the importance of “emotional understanding” and “compassion.” It leverages advanced natural language processing and deep learning in order to continually enhance its conversational skills. Microsoft constructed Xiaoice using what the organization refers to as an “Empathetic Computing Framework.”

By the year 2020, Xiaoice had garnered a user base exceeding 660 million individuals worldwide, solidifying its position as the most widely used personality-based virtual assistant globally. It has been integrated into more than 40 platforms across regions like China, Japan, and Indonesia, in addition to previous deployments in the US and India.

The design of Xiaoice by Microsoft researchers was centered around that of a adolescent female, resulting in numerous Chinese users forming deep emotional bonds with the virtual assistant. Shockingly, around a quarter of Xiaoice users have expressed sentiments like, “I have affection for you,” with millions of users establishing what they perceive as a “connection” with Xiaoice — sometimes at the expense of fostering real human relationships.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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