Could the hosts please be more aware of trigger words before they say them?

[G+_Russell Grokett]

Could the hosts please be more aware of trigger words before they say them? Blanking them out in post makes the audio sound messed up. At first I thought it was my phone and then figured out that they were saying Alexa about a hundred times. Not the first time this has occurred and it sounds terrible every time.

[G+_Robert Gauld]

I think I recall Steve mentioned a simple fix (that twit not use could make use of) when discussing burger king's advert on security now.

Essentially chop out a few hertz at the right frequency to foil the assitant's recognition of the wake words.

[G+_bil Jeschke]

But does highlight the problem with the voice activated systems. This is the end users problem for now, as is highlights a security opening which is why I don't use voice activated stuff until it can ignore other voices.

[G+_Beny Spensieri, Jr.]

This is true, but these shows are not done off the cuff. There are show notes done in advance of each episode. A suggested substitute word like "OK G" should be decided on at that time.

[G+_Robert Gauld]

Weren't they using just that for a while? I wonder why they stopped - fell out of the habit maybe?

[G+_Beny Spensieri, Jr.]

They still forget, and have to fix it in post production. Plus different assistant hardware have different wake words.

[G+_Tory Harmon]

Beny Spensieri, Jr. The hosts are well-aware of it and have substitute words, however, mistakes happen, so relax. Have you considered just turning off your mic or listening on the go?

[G+_Beny Spensieri, Jr.]

Tory Harmony I'm not talking about an occasional slip. Have you listened to this week's episode? A whole segment saying the word ALEXA repeatedly. After it was taken out, the whole segment was garbled and unintelligible. And this wasn't the first occurrence. I can deal with isolated mistakes, I'm not that intolerant, but if you're planning a WHOLE SEGMENT, perhaps flagging wake words should be part of the process.

[G+_Derek McAllister]

As more and more devices get voice enabled, this will become more of an issue. And if they allow you to change the word, it'll only get worse. The solution really lies with those watching the show, at this point, to turn off the microphone on the device. Remember, Alexa was a name long before Amazon decided to use it as a wake word. Google was a word long before the company was founded, but at least they used a phrase (you can't just say Google). Siri is probably the best so far as it's not a word or name that is all that common in the English speaking world but the issue is that the service is the same as the wake word.

 

The only way to correct it would be to allow everyone to set their own phrase, and require the phrase to be a minimum of 2 words. But they've already claimed that having different phrases isn't an option.

 

And that's where the ultimate responsibility lies, with those that manufacture these devices. We can't rely on a host or guest on shows to remember all of the phrases that might trigger a device, it's unreasonable to expect that in my opinion.

[G+_Beny Spensieri, Jr.]

Custom wake words can't be dealt with an I don't expect them to. But the hosts are doing preparations for the show. They aren't improvising. There are show notes and plans. They are putting effort in before hand and this is one of the elements they now have to plan for, because compensating for it after the fact is ruining the show after they worked so hard on it.

[G+_Beny Spensieri, Jr.]

Now as the number of voice activated devices grows and every second word is a wake word, then they have to make a decision. Say screw it and let the listeners deal with their devices or make up a substitution for all the wake words.

[G+_Jason Howell (raygun01)]

We really do try to avoid those trigger words. Sorry, sometimes its not that easy. Depends on the HW. The Google Home/Assistant is pretty easy to avoid. The name of the product is different from the trigger word so we just say OK G. Alexa is a different story. "Amazon's voice assistant" doesn't just roll off the tongue, try as we might.