Big Mouth Alexa Bass: AI speaks through a plastic fad from the past
Artificial intelligence can be scary, especially if you are someone like me who believes that the robot apocalypse is inevitable. But what if AI could embody something warm and comforting from your past, like a beloved toy, a treasured token, or a Big Mouth Billy Bass? One developer has merged a novelty singing fish with the Amazon AI Alexa and the results are amazing.
According to Sophie Weiner for Popular Mechanics: "No one yet knows how he did it (though bets are on the Alexa API, which was opened in April), but it seems to have worked well. In the video, the fish responds to commands by moving its head forward and mouthing along as Alexa speaks. The effect is somewhere between hilarious and terrifying.
Now that Kane has achieved this, we can only hope it will spur further similar hacks. We'd love to see Alexa speak through a Furby or a Tickle Me Elmo, for example. In this brave new world of artificial intelligence, we might as well have some fun when we can."
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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