ByGB Blog Official 2018-04-20 7279
According to Lei Jun, Xiaomi's CEO, Xiao Ai is "summoned" over 10 million times per month. This, in turn, has enabled the assistant to accumulate large amounts of linguistic data to better itself. Thanks to
the data and efficient machine learning, Xiao Ai is catching up with its competitors, including Google Assistant, Apple's Siri, Samsung's Bixby, and Microsoft's Cortana. Above all, it can already boost the highest number of users. Over a million Mi Ai Speakers and Mi Ai Mini Speakers were sold, and Xiaomi's fans witnessed Mi Mix 2S selling out within seconds on April 3 and 6, 2018.
 | Original Xiaomi AI Bluetooth 4.1 Speaker Music Player - WHITE | ||
| $94.84 | |||
 | Xiaomi MI MIX 2S 4G Phablet Global Version - BLACK | ||
Up till now, Xiao Ai has only supported Chinese. However, as Xiaomi expands into the international market, more language options will become available. On February 23, Xiaomi and Microsoft signed a deal to cooperate on cloud, device, and AI areas. Thus, there is much to expect from Xiao Ai.
Xiaomi published an official video of Xiao Ai on YouTube on April 2. Watch the video to understand the way the assistant works — even though it's all in Chinese, there are English subtitles, and it will not be difficult for you to understand all of Xiao Ai's functions.
Use voice commands in Chinese, and Xiao Ai will tell the time, provide weather information, check temperature, set alarms/reminders, make a call, play music, operate apps like WeChat, translate, purchase online products for you, control smart home gadgets like Mi Robot vacuum cleaner, and plenty more. If you do not remember what tasks Xiao Ai can do, just ask her and a list of commands will appear.
As Lei Jun concludes — with Xiao Ai, complicated tasks can be completed hands-freely. It is helpful when you are focusing on driving, taking a selfie, have your hands wet or simply don't feel like pressing buttons on your phone.
Since its birth, Xiao Ai has been studying and developing. According to an article published on Sohu, Xiao Ai is popular among Mi fans for these 3 main features:
● Xiao Ai is fun — and her replies have more "spice" in them than those of other digital assistants.
● You can actually chat with Xiao Ai: the assistant can get you into a dialogue and keep it up.
● Xiao Ai is clever. By using advanced algorithms and learning autonomously, she will get to know you and your habits better, which can be very helpful over time.
Having such a voice assistant like Xiao Ai is definitely fun. Tell her to turn the lights on and off a few times as you get ready for bed, and she will haughtily reply "if you cannot fall asleep, I can count sheep for you". Sweet, isn't she?
Summoning Xiao Ai becomes easier in the latest MIUI system — wake up Xiao Ai when the mobile phone screen is turned off, or just call her when you are using the phone.
MIUI 9 users can set up to 6 ways to make Xiao Ai appear, including long pressing the home button, menu button, return button, home and on/off button, home and menu button, on/off and return button. Additionally, in MIUI 9, Xiao Ai can also respond to a call. Use the app "Xiao Ai Wake Up" to call her, and the assistant will show up. However, you should be aware that running the app will reduce the battery life of your phone.
During the launch event on March 27, Xiaomi's CEO demonstrated how the two assistants work side by side and the audience was impressed by Xiao Ai's contextual responses.
Siri and Xiao Ai were requested to find baby's photos taken last Saturday. Siri was unable to complete the task but Xiao Ai managed to find all the related photos. At last, both assistants were asked to use Wechat to send a red envelope with 66 yuan inside and say "Happy birthday!" to Zhang Ping. Siri made a mistake, and was going to send the message of "66 yuan red envelope" to Zhang Ping on Wechat. Understandably, Xiao Ai understood the task better and opened the envelope function of Wechat, asking the phone owner to confirm by entering the password.
All things considered, if you are looking for a Chinese-speaking assistant — or an assistant capable of understanding China's digital realities like Wechat, Xiao Ai wins the game hands down.
Xiao Ai is definitely smart enough to carry out tasks for hands-free operation — and she is getting smarter. Although now the assistant's operation is limited to Chinese, this is about to change and we will be able to see first-hand how it works with other languages. The future is definitely promising for Xiao Ai — and she is already the highlight of the world's most cost-effective phones, which now have another edge on the competition.
