Bearing names such as Siri and Alexa, virtual assistants are now a part of the family in one out of five American homes. Boasting endless patience, they accept any voice command they are given and, if everything works right, will then play the desired music, provide a weather forecast or update the user’s calendar. Voice-controlled digital assistants promise to provide us help in our daily lives. They are rapidly spreading. Whereas they were found in only one percent of U.S. households in 2016, this figure rose to 20 percent just two years later. They are also used in no less than 13 percent of German households.
If everything goes according to Dr. Gaetano Blanda’s wishes, this will only be the beginning. Blanda wants to turn voice-controlled digital assistants from simple helpers for daily life into chemistry experts, and use them in a place where a comprehensive amount of specialized knowledge is needed and a technical language is spoken: the laboratory.