The Artificial Podcast

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58: Ryan Leusch | Net Positive: Sustainable Technology and The Future of Smart Homes Aug 16, 2020

Show notes

Ryan Leusch is the Chief Sales Officer of S2A Modular. Ryan was born with an intrinsic fascination for technology, and with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, Ryan’s passion and knowledge has driven his success. He specializes in renewable business development and is an expert in combining the smartest, greenest, and most superior solutions in the industry. From starting his own PC repair business in the 1990s to helping pioneer a managed network services company in southern California Ryan has been a continuous innovator in tech with a unique ability to educate clients and communicate effectively throughout the duration of any project that he is a part of.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Ryan Leusch of S2A Modular about sustainable technology and the future of smart homes as we know them today. Ryan and Nick talk about how S2A Modular is rapidly innovating the smart home industry, and how they are leveraging sustainable technology to help homeowners generate additional income just from the electricity produced by S2A’s self-sustaining homes. Ryan also talks about solar panel tech and how it has evolved to become cheaper and more efficient over the years, as well as a new wireless internet technology called LiFi is poised to change in-home wireless tech as we know it.

Learn more about S2A Modular: https://www.s2amodular.com/

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

57: Maaike Groenewege | Linguistics: A Conversation Designer’s Superpower Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

Maaike Groenewege is passionate about conversation design. It is a profession that is right in the sweet spot of her interests: writing, analysis, psychology, user support, component management, and above all, her big love: linguistics. She discovered conversation design at the start of 2019 and decided to start Convocat conversational expertise at the start of 2020. Maaike loves the hands-on work of building and designing chatbots (and increasingly, voice assistants). Next to that, she coaches content teams that are just starting the big adventure of building their own enterprise chatbots. Prior to founding Convocat, Maaike spent 20 years working as a technical writer, international project manager, and Agile information analyst for companies like Lucent Technologies, Dutch Air Traffic Control, Dutch Bank AMRO, and the Dutch Railways.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Maaike Groenewege of Conovcat.ai. Maaike shares her career as a linguist ultimately led her to start her own business designing chatbots and other conversational interfaces. Maaike talks about why she thinks language and linguistics play such a large role in conversation design (and ultimately the future of voice assistant technology), and how in order for the technology to truly evolve the technology will need to be trained on more aspects of natural human language. To wrap things up, Nick and Maaike talk about open AI and how the industry can work towards developing AI systems that are free of unconscious bias.

How to contact Maaike:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maaikegroenewege/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaaikeGee

Learn more about #VoiceLunch: https://register.voicelunch.com/

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

56: Nick Sawka | 400 Alexa Skills and Counting Aug 02, 2020

Show notes

Nick Sawka is a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and continues to serve his country proudly. Nick found his passion for Amazon Alexa back in December of 2014 when Alexa was first released for beta testing. In 2017, Nick made the jump into voice app development and to date has currently published over 400 Alexa Skills for small and medium-sized businesses. Nick is actively pursuing the title of official Alexa Champion for the 2021 selection.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Nick Sawka of N.E.S Voice Skills about Nick’s journey through voice technology industry and what it has been like to create so many different Alexa Skills. Nick shares how he went about teaching himself everything that he knows about Amazon Alexa and building Skills, along with why he is so determined to be recognized as an Alexa Champion. Nick talks about some of his favorite Skills that he has created so far including Historical Voices which is currently one of the most highly rated Alexa Skills in the Alexa Skills Store. Nick also dives into some of the tactics and strategies that he has used to help make him a successful Alexa Skill developer, as well as the motivation that exists behind many of his different Alexa Skills.

How to connect with Nick Sawka:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-e-sawka-41aa3b79/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ASR_Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n.e._sawka_voice_skills/

Subscribe to Voice Spark Alexa & More on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJwOrGrkqdLgqE1ajhhRgKQ

Learn more about Voice Skills Inc.: https://www.voiceskillsinc.com/

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

BREAK - Celebrating Nick's 26th Birthday Jul 26, 2020

Show notes

We will be taking a break this week as Nick and Brett celebrate Nick's 26th birthday on July 25th. We will be returning next week with a new guest interview featuring Nick Sawka of NES Voice Skills. Have a great week!

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

55: Tim McElreath | Alexa & Food Network Kitchen: The Importance of Trial and Error Jul 19, 2020

Show notes

Tim is the Senior Product Manager for Voice and Emerging Platforms for Discovery Inc.’s Direct to Consumer team. Tim has been working in the conversational design and engineering space since 2016 leading various teams in building voice, chat, and multimodal applications for brands like Food Network and HGTV.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Tim McElreath of Discovery Inc. about what it has been like creating and developing the Food Network Kitchen Alexa Skill, and what it has been like to work alongside the Amazon Alexa Team on adding new features and capabilities. Tim talks about how he got into the voice technology industry and what it has been like to watch Alexa evolve as a technology since 2016. Tim also shares some tips, tactics, and strategies for voice designers, and discusses where he thinks the technology is headed and what it may look like over the next decade. Tim also talks about the importance of trial and error, especially when it comes to working with voice assistant platforms like Alexa and Google Assistant.

How to connect with Tim:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmcelreath/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TimMcElreath

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

54: Petra Bührer | IBM Watson and “AI for Good” Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

As a global sales leader, Petra is driving the worldwide IBM Power Systems scale-up and sale-out of business focusing on AIX and IBM I, which includes the IBM Power Systems Software portfolio. In 2019, Petra was elected as Chairwoman of the IBM Technical Expert Council which is an affiliate of the IBM Academy of Technology. In this leadership role, Petra and the Technical Expert Council support shaping and driving the technical strategy in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In this week’s episode, Nick chats with Petra Bührer of IBM about how IBM is leveraging their Watson technology to help doctors and scientists combat COVID-19. Petra talks about her various roles at IBM over the years and how working for a global tech company has allowed her to travel and experience so many different cultures and meet so many new people from around the world. Petra also discusses the “AI for Good” initiative and why she believes it is crucial that more voices from women and people of color are needed in order to truly help AI evolve to serve the needs of every human being on the planet. Nick and Petra also briefly talk about how they first met at the 2019 Asia Property Awards in Bangkok, Thailand, and how that event impacted both of them.

How to contact Petra:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petrabuehrer/

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

53: The History of Artificial Intelligence – Part I Jul 06, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick and Brett return to talk about the history of Artificial Intelligence. Due to the amount of information surrounding the history of AI this episode will be part one of a two-part series. Nick and Brett dive in the origins of AI as we know it today starting with myths and legends of machines coming to life throughout ancient civilization, and how that ultimately led to the formal reasoning of AI as we know it today. Nick and Brett talk about how the term “Artificial Intelligence” was coined, and how the early work of AI pioneers like Alan Turing, Marvin Minsky, and John McCarthy led to a period known as the “The Golden Age of Artificial Intelligence” where many of the intelligent computer programs and tools available to us today had their humble beginning.

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

52: Jon Stine | Open Voice and Closing the User Trust Gap Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

Jon Stine is currently leading the Open Voice Network (OVN), the non-profit industry association dedicated to bringing the value of standards to the world of Conversational AI – to make voice worthy of user trust. His path to OVN coursed through the worlds of consumer goods, retail, and technology with global leadership roles at Intel and Cisco Systems. It was his second stint at Intel from 2014-2019 when this question was raised: “What emerging technology will most impact the relationship between a consumer-facing entity and its customers?” His answer was “Voice”.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Jon Stine from the Open Voice Network about closing the trust gap between users and Conversational AI/voice assistant technology. Jon talks about his career working in both retail and technology companies like Intel and Cisco, and how those experiences guided him to start the Open Voice Network. Nick and Jon talk about Conversational AI and the future of the technology; specifically, how voice assistant tech will impact the retail industry. Jon also dives into the story behind the Open Voice Network and why he strongly believes that the future evolution of Conversational AI and Voice rests upon standards development and implementation that will truly make Voice “open” for all.

How to contact Jon:

Email: jon.stine@openvoicenetwork.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonstine/

Learn more about Open Voice Network:

Website: https://openvoicenetwork.org/

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Want to learn more about how RedFox AI can help give your brand a voice through the power of AI and Voice-First? Visit https://redfox-ai.com.

If you or anyone you know is interested in being a guest on The Artificial Podcast send an email to theartificialpodcast@redfox-ai.com.

51: Kerrie Hoffman | Artificial Intelligence and The Next Age™ Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

Kerrie is passionate about business transformation and getting as many companies as possible on their journey to The Next Age™. Kerrie is a #1 bestselling business author and is the CEO of Hoffman Digital, an ecosystem of companies “Igniting the Human Experience at Work”. This includes Strategic Advisor at several modern technology companies, Co-Founder and Partner at Get Digital Velocity, and Digital Advisor and Certified Business Coach at FocalPoint Business Coaching. In addition, she is a keynote speaker at industry venues and Chairwoman of the Board for HashedIn Malaysia.

In this week’s episode of The Artificial Podcast, Nick chats with Kerrie Hoffman of Hoffman Digital. Kerrie and Nick start this week’s episode by talking about Kerrie’s IT and technology journey starting in healthcare that ultimately led her to work in high-profile IT roles at companies like Johnson Controls and Johnson & Johnson. Kerrie talks about some of her most rewarding experiences working in IT over the years, and what it has been like being a woman in tech having held so many different roles. Kerrie and Nick dive into AI and talk about Kerrie’s vision of the future which she calls The Next Age™, and why every professional in every industry needs to start preparing today to adapt their skillset to a world where AI and automation lead everything that we do.

How to contact Kerrie:

Website: https://kerriehoffman.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerrieahoffman/

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