Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Communication Strategy, Creativity, Culture, Emotion, Empathy, Innovation, Insight, Planners, Planning, Technology
So this is linked to yesterdays post about AI/VR.
A friend of mine recently put up this poster of an idea he’s trying to get Amazon to do with their Alexa virtual assistant.
Basically he wants Amazon to allow people suffering from domestic abuse, to be able to set up a ‘safe word’ in Alexa.
If the word is ever heard, Alexa will automatically start recording all ambient noise and send it directly to the Police.
While I appreciate there are a mass of legal implications, it’s a simple, brilliant idea … designed to empower humanity rather than laziness.
The fact is was created by a planner, in an agency, makes me extra-happy.
I’ve written a lot about my frustration that too many agencies believe creativity only exists if you sit in the creative department – and while what they do is an amazing thing that can take ideas to even more magical places – they do not have the monopoly on creative thinking and this is additional proof of that. Better yet, my mate is not doing it for an award or some scam shit, he’s doing it because he gives a shit about humanity and has created an idea that could make a real difference to someone’s life.
Something we are all supposed to be doing but often end up just communicating.
If anyone out there knows someone of influence at Amazon, please can you show them this.
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Absolute genius, I really like this. Now if someone would perfect haptic technology for Youporn the world will be an even better place
Comment by Northern April 27, 2018 @ 6:20 amcampbell is too busy trying to make metallica a car to work on anything worthfuckingwhile. and yes i did wow this while im on holiday and i fucking hate myself for it.
Comment by andy@cynic April 27, 2018 @ 6:27 amMetallica has to wait until I’ve sold the Nike one first.
Comment by Rob April 27, 2018 @ 7:34 amwhy the fuck has it been ai week on here? do you think it will become a thing like shark week? tosser. this is very, very good and if a planner did it then they sure as fuck had help from a creative.
Comment by andy@cynic April 27, 2018 @ 6:25 ama creative technologist I think you mean
Comment by Northern April 27, 2018 @ 6:26 amcreative tech twats dont art direct posters. unless theyve made a bot for that, or whatever theyre called. wankers.
Comment by andy@cynic April 27, 2018 @ 6:29 amBots never argue about making the logo bigger
Comment by Northern April 27, 2018 @ 6:32 amTh as the what AI is for.
Comment by DH April 27, 2018 @ 6:52 amWasn’t there a story about this a year ago? Some suggestion that alexa had called 911 when overhearing violence though Amazon denied it at the time. No doubt for privacy reasons.
Comment by John April 27, 2018 @ 6:29 amNot quite. A violent male told his his wife not to call the police but Alexa took it as a request to call them (I assume the number was available due to previous situations) and his violence was overheard and I believe led to his arrest. Maybe inspired by this idea but executed far more cleverly. Unfortunately I imagine legal issues will make this hard to execute though if violence involved it may make privacy rights null and void.
Comment by Pete April 27, 2018 @ 6:40 amSo will you get it in google home?
Comment by DH April 27, 2018 @ 6:51 amAh right. Thanks for the clarification.
Personally, I think this feature needs to be embedded in a secret device rather than Alexa but yes it’s a good idea.
Comment by John April 27, 2018 @ 7:05 amI’ll be connecting with the engineering team and find our what needs to happen.
Comment by Pete April 27, 2018 @ 7:14 amThanks Pete.
Comment by Rob April 27, 2018 @ 7:33 amLet’s connect on this today Pete.
Comment by George April 27, 2018 @ 9:27 amI believe the legal issue is around the recording of content, but I believe it could be set to automatically dial authorities so they could listen in. I will explore this with our legal department, it is a great idea.
Comment by George April 27, 2018 @ 9:31 amThat would be ace. Thanks George, see you tomorrow.
Comment by Rob April 27, 2018 @ 12:32 pmWhat a brilliant idea
Comment by Pete April 27, 2018 @ 6:34 amWhat a powerful yet simple idea.I hope it happens.
Comment by Lee Hill April 27, 2018 @ 8:26 am[…] common denominator of needs. The low hanging fruit, as it were. Now that would be fine if they then evolved their offering, but as this is a fierce, commercial race, I am pretty sure most companies will end up focusing on […]
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