Will Digital Assistants Live up to Hype?

Some good questions posed.  Most interesting, will there ultimately be a single 'language' for their use?    A set of reasonable standards of what we expect of them?   Like in an automobile?   Or will they ultimately all be using conversational language with common sense assumptions,  and contextual memory, to respond for assistance.  On my Google Home today, part of my home ecosystem, I can converse in German or English, and she does reasonably, not perfectly,  in answering with either.  That's a slight step forward, she can detect language and respond in the same.  But still a long way to go.  It has to be better than memorizing commands and formats, like in a coding language.

Some question if digital assistants will ever live up to the hype  by Tom Ryan in Retailwire  with additional expert comments.

Voice-activated digital assistants are again in the spotlight at CES as manufacturers work to embed artificial intelligence technology into everything from refrigerators to slow cookers, beds and toilets. The jury is still out, however, on whether they’ll become key to connecting smart homes.

David Pierce, personal tech columnist for The Wall Street Journal, noted that many other software-related tools already connect a variety of home devices. He harped on the complicated programming involved in pairing devices, including the multiple steps required and the need to memorize specific phrases.

“I don’t want a thousand commands for a thousand devices,” Mr. Pierce wrote. “In most cases, voice-controlled assistants have hit a wall where they perform a specific set of tasks well and not much else.”