Why Marty Mcfly is not the future of banking
Written by: Previous staff on 6 April, 2009No doubt a few of you will recognise this extract from Back to the Future II, courtesy of IMDB:
Marty McFly: [showing the two boys how to play the shoot 'em up video game] I’ll show you, kid. I’m a crack shot at this.
[shoots a perfect score with the electronic gun]
Video Game Boy #1: You mean you have to use your hands?
Video Game Boy #2: That’s like a baby’s toy!
Poor old Marty; he was using outdated technology in a futuristic age. I can’t help thinking we might all be feeling like this as we tap our keyboards in the not-too-distant-future if some exciting ventures in utilising voice recognition come into fruition. In the last week, I have heard of two which particularly caught my imagination.
Firstly, at the Digital Money Forum last week, a number of speakers were highlighting the potential of new voice recognition software, which could change the way we interface with our banks (or any other company). Imagine ringing up the bank, saying your name, and then being instantly transferred to a employee, who by the time the call has been connected, will have all of your details on screen. This is in contrast to the rather laborious process of entering security numbers, confirming details, answering security questions etc.
Secondly, over the weekend I saw an article about Google and ‘voice search’. In the words of a senior company’s executive, “We believe voice search is a new form of search and that it is core to our business.”
Although I’m not saying the end of the keyboard, touch-pad etc is nigh, it’s not impossible that our fingers might be given a rest as we use our voice to navigate the web, manage our banking, and, in the case of Marty, play computer games as well.
Tags: Biometrics, Financial Services
6 April, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Ok, I will comment piece by piece.
1. “Imagine ringing up the bank, saying your name, and then being instantly transferred to a employee, who by the time the call has been connected, will have all of your details on screen. This is in contrast to the rather laborious process of entering security numbers, confirming details, answering security questions etc.”
- To be honest, I actually like the tight securiuty when calling up a bank, utility service, or mobile operator. Granted I do forget at times the answer to my security question, but for some reason I do feel more secure relying on me telling the operator my passwords over and over, rather than relying on software recognising my voice as mine. I think we would all get a false sense of security if we relied too much on de-humanised services.
2. …”it’s not impossible that our fingers might be given a rest as we use our voice to navigate the web, manage our banking, and, in the case of Marty, play computer games as well.”
- how do you overcome a noisy office when dictating a e-mail? and who cannot overhear you talking about your bank details, and finally who does not enjoy the new way Wii has intrdouced hand held gaming controls!
let’s hope the future does not come back to us too quickly.
JL
7 April, 2009 at 8:08 am
Hi JL,
Thanks for your comments.
The power and capability of these new technologies should not be underestimated, so much so, that some firms are considering guaranteeing financially every transaction made using their product (i.e. if it is a fraudulent transaction, they will cover the cost). If they were not certain of the quality of their product, this guarantee would not be made. This is also rather reassuring to consumers.
In BTTF2 and Marty and Doc Brown travelled twenty years into their future and found a changed world. My question to you is this: do you think we will still be tapping away at keyboards in 20 years time?
9 April, 2009 at 10:57 am
Google sees voice-activated search as key to its mobile business and has just introduced a UK version for the Blackberry. In the past two to four years, continual refinements of the mathematical models have produced a level of accuracy in speech recognition that borders on artificial intelligence.
- well, perhaps I should just go with the flow.
http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/04/08/235581/google-voice-search-marks-new-era-of-speech-analytics.htm
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