[Ads-l] "skill"= online access to a corporate service

[Mark Mandel]

Thank you, Ben and Garson. As additional capabilities to add to the
personified appliances/programs Alexa or Siri, these fit the existing sense
of "skill" quite cleanly.

I don't have either of them, nor do I plan to: if they can hear you call
their name at any time, they must be listening all the time. And the way
government and mega-corps like Amazon are extending their reach, I'd rather
not chance letting them into my life (in yet another way than they already
do) if I don't need to.

Mark

On Tue, May 14, 2019, 6:32 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> This use of "skills" began as a technical term for the Alexa voice
> service of Amazon, I believe. Programmers who wish to extend the
> capabilities of Alexa typically need to learn about the Alexa Skills
> Kit (ASK). Interestingly, the "skills" term is succeeding. It has been
> generalized and is now being applied to Google's voice assistant and
> to Apple's voice assistant Siri.
>
> Alexa Skills Kit
> Give Your Vision a Voice and Reach More Customers
> https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Tens of thousands of developers have built skills using the Alexa
> Skills Kit (ASK), a collection of self-service APIs, tools,
> documentation, and code samples. With ASK, anyone can leverage
> Amazon’s knowledge in voice design to build quickly and easily. Start
> building today to reimagine your customer experience for voice and
> reach customers where they are.
> [End excerpt]
>
> What are Amazon Alexa Skills?
> There's an Alexa Skill for almost every need. Here are just a few dozen.
> Julia Tell
> August 24 2017
> https://www.gearbrain.com/what-are-amazon-alexa-skills-2471456002.html
>
> Amazon's Alexa is the voice-activated, interactive AI bot, or personal
> assistant, that lets people speak with their Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and
> other Amazon smart home devices. . . . But Alexa Skills are apps that
> give Alexa even more abilities, letting her speak to more devices even
> websites.
>
> The 50 most useful Alexa skills
> Make Alexa even more powerful with these third-party skills.
> BY TAYLOR MARTIN FEBRUARY 9, 2019 4:00 AM PST
> https://www.cnet.com/how-to/amazon-echo-most-useful-alexa-skills/
>
> The 35 Best Google Assistant Skills
> by MONICA CHIN & MIKE PROSPERO Apr 25, 2019, 10:36 AM
>
> https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/917-best-google-assistant-skills.html
>
>
> 10 Siri Skills that Make Running Your iPhone Easier
> ByMark O'NeillLast Updated on January 24, 2019
> https://www.groovypost.com/howto/10-siri-skills-run-iphone-easier/
>
> Garson
>
> On Tue, May 14, 2019 at 5:27 PM Mark Mandel <mark.a.mandel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > From a membership renewal letter from the Philadelphia Museum of Art:
> >
> > >>>>>
> > P.S. Ask Alexa to "Open Philadelphia Museum of Art" to plan your next
> visit
> > and renew your membership (Member through Keystone levels only). Our new
> > skill is available on Amazon Echo and via the free Alexa mobile app.
> > <<<<<
> >
> > "Member through..." means the offer applies to only the three lowest
> > levels: Member @$75/year, Member Plus @$125/yr, and Keystone @$250/yr.
> >
> > Does anyone see this as falling within the customary semantic range of
> > "skill"?
> >
> > Mark Mandel
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org