What Else Would You Like Your Voice Assistant To Do?

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Obviously anything is possible with existing cloud options like Google and Amazon if you setup virtual devices like switches and automations to respond to changes made through these platforms. I am interested in what people would want to have available "out-of-the-box"...

I am also asking this with the assumption (hope) that we will reach a point in the relatively short-term where local voice control will become a reliable option... But short of that, the ability to tell the HE platform to do more advanced actions would be great. (I say that without any research, happy to be corrected).

One that springs to mind for me tonight is to be able to easily disable an automation such as one to automatically turn the A/C (thermostat) off at 10pm, given it is so hot for us down here. Being able to set a simple timer for adjusting a device would also be useful at times.

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I would like to ask whether something is on. "Siri/Alexa/Hey You is the basement bathroom light on?" Things like that. I like duration requests too. Alexa+ broke this for awhile and I missed it. "Hey You, turn on the garage fan for one hour." And one time automations like "When my wife gets home remind me to tell her about the Christmas present idea you had for Sara." Oh, and "Hey you, next time I got to the basement remind me to bring up a bag of sugar." At my age I like to make the most of every trip up/down the stairs. :wink:

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Since the gunners game just started, I had an idea:

Google:

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Alexa:

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Wow, an American (?) that follows UK sport.... Not that I do.... My only connection is that I went to see Alan Davies at a local theatre earlier in the week.... That and my grandfather brought out jerseys for a local team from the UK (I assume Newcastle United)....

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  1. Run w/o internet access if internet WAN connection is out. Normal would be with internet (allows update/refinement to the engine).
  2. Use local weather and emergency conditions and set Hubitat routines based on this status (i.e., if it it too hot, do not turn off AC (only in Australia).
  3. Incorporate "capabilities" that allow control of a wider-range of devices to a deeper level. Would include user defined capabilities for new / custom devices.
  4. Capability to import legacy WAN-based wifi devices and provide device - hubitat bridge. (would be great for cameras linked to Amazon to report detection states).
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Ha! A Romanian-American supporting a UK team... The greatness of football has no borders, just American investors, sometimes :wink:

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I'd like it to be aware of its own configuration. Allow me to adjust it in real-time by telling it that it handled something incorrectly, ask it how it thinks it can do better and then work out a solution so it doesn't happen again. You know, parent.

Tell me what lights I have in this room. When I say turn on the lights in this room I only want you to turn on the side lamps. When I say turn all of the lights on I want you to turn every light in this room on. Can you make a rule or change your configuration to do that? OK, make that change and now read me the rules in this room for lighting and include any alias's or custom key phrases that have been added along with their use and configuration. After that analyze the configuration and tell me if you have new capabilities or suggestions on improving this functionality. When you do that present each option or change as a question to me accept yes/no or skip as the answers. If you need more information on a question offer to output the question and suggestion to a log and move onto the next item.

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does anybody else have this problem that I have

Alexa, turn the living room light on
Answer, which living room light do you want on, living room light or living room light

Alexa, living room light

Answer, you don't have a living room thermostat

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I do not. Alexa was deported from my kingdom.

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No need for new AI, just some easy way to configure, which voice would probably accomplish. I think the Node Red apple strudel people built this configurable room awareness stuff for Alexa years ago. Alexa product management people are apparently just not that bright. There's no reason for Josh.ai to exist other than Amazon/Google/Apple poor execution.

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Alexa for Business had very good device awareness, but they killed that off. I was using it and tested it out.

In my previous post I was being assistant agnostic. But I do have good room awareness with Josh. The main point was being able to spontaneously interact and configure. Not just room awareness, but a living context for the house. Make it the ui for the system.

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Are you sure you didn't start your command with "Hey Google", by any chance :thinking: :rofl:

Are you using legacy Alexa or Alexa +?

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Just the bog standard version

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Alexa + seems to handle things better. I haven't used Alexa standard in 5+ years for those same reasons, but recently went back to Alexa after getting tired of Google, and is a breath of fresh air, though a little too talkative at times.

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Alexa + is not available here in the UK until sometime in 2026 apparently

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If you have the light installed into Alexa as well as through the Hubitat Alexa integration, the Alexa will show TWO devices in it's list of devices. If this is the case, you have successfully confused Alexa. I would recommend removing one of the devices or you may get some even weirder interactions (keep Austin Weird is not desirable in a Smart Home).

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@zapbust

Also, Alexa can get confused when SmartHome Devices have the word "Light" in their name. Alexa uses "Light(s)" as part of a command to control all of the lights in an Alexa Group (I.e. a room.)

So, for my "Family Room" group in Alexa, which also includes an Echo Show 8 device, I make sure my devices have names like "Family Room Lamps", "Family Room Overhead", etc... I make sure to not use the word "light" in their name to avoid confusing Alexa. This allows me to say to that particular Echo device, "Alexa, turn on lights" and she will turn on everything in the same group that has been categorized as a light device in the Alexa app (versus Alexa "outlet" devices, IIRC.) I can also say "Alexa, turn on Family Room Lamps" and there is no confusion whatever.

Note: Stating "Alexa, turn on All Lights" will turn on every light in your house. I have created voice activated Alexa Routines to catch these phrases to pevent my adult children from messing up all of the lights in the house when they visit. Now Alexa simply replies to them, "I am sorry Hal, I can't do that." :wink:

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A completely local "Home Automation mode" I can enable, so I can use it only to control home automation devices. Any voice commands like "What's the weather?" or "Did Aresenal win today" will be deferred w/a "I'm in local mode so I can't access the Internet" or similar response.

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Totally agree, that this is a problem, but in the spirit of this thread - it really shouldn't be. The AI in Alexa+ (which is MUCH better than regular Alexa, if not a bit slower) should be able to handle context clues in this situation, or ask the right questions to establish long term RAG context for your account or room..

That's what's on my wish list, that if it can't figure something out, or gets it wrong, that you can correct, or "parent it" (as noted above). And then the model remembers and learns from your previous hints, how you have things laid out, or refer to devices.

I shouldn't have to setup 6 different "an use these additional voice prompts for the same automation" - The AI should just ask me if, it's unclear on what to do, and learn from that.

The local or not, doesn't bother me that much - As they (Amazon, Google, OpenAI, etc.) are using LOTS of compute power to run these AI's currently, and I don't see having the ability to run that locally for some time (given CPU, TPU, and memory resources). I don't critically depend on any voice interactions (which I do alot of, given a lack of presence detection), but anything important can be controlled locally with a button or switch, and HE Rules.

Alexa+ was a BIG positive step, given you can reference multiple devices in one request, reference future actions, and the converstation is now stateful, and remembers context from previous prompts. It just feels like it shouldn't have taken 10 years to get here, with little improvement in the meantime for any of the agents.

Oh, and let me pay a few bucks more each month (I already have Prime), but for the love of God, please give me some way to stop the upselling to Amazon music, and other services.

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Good luck on that. Even Solantis is putting adds on their auto smart screens. Some companies charge for heated seat access in the car. HW is there, just software access. It is grab, grab, grab. Isn't technology wonderful.

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