An accessible explanation of the technologies that enable such popular voice-interactive applications as Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. Have you talked to a machine lately? Asked Alexa to play a song, asked Siri to call a friend, asked Google Assistant to make a shopping list? This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers a nontechnical and accessible explanation of the technologies that enable these popular devices. Roberto Pieraccini, drawing on more than thirty years of experience at companies including Bell Labs, IBM, and Google, describes the developments in such fields as artificial intelligence, machine learning, speech recognition, and natural language understanding that allow us to outsource tasks to our ubiquitous virtual assistants. Pieraccini describes the software components that enable spoken communication between humans and computers, and explains why it's so difficult to build machines that understand humans. He explains speech recognition technology; problems in extracting meaning from utterances in order to execute a request; language and speech generation; the dialog manager module; and interactions with social assistants and robots. Finally, he considers the next big challenge in the development of virtual assistants: building in more intelligence--enabling them to do more than communicate in natural language and endowing them with the capacity to know us better, predict our needs more accurately, and perform complex tasks with ease.

Are you where you want to be professionally? Whether you want to advance faster at your present company, change jobs, or make the jump to a new field entirely, Reinventing You, now in paperback with a new preface, provides a step-by-step guide to help you assess your unique strengths, develop a compelling personal brand, and ensure that others recognize the powerful contribution you can make. Branding expert Dorie Clark mixes personal stories with engaging interviews and examples from Mark Zuckerberg, Al Gore, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, and others to show you how to think big about your professional goals, take control of your career, and finally live the life you want.

"Take control of your entrepreneurial life and learn how to effectively outsource your non-essential tasks. You'll free up hours every day to focus on what's really important. In the end virtual assistants can help you lead a happier, healthier, and more productive and stress-free life."--Page 4 of cover

The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound. Explains how to leverage the power of a 12 week year to drive improved results in any area of your life Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation Turn your organization's idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.

Why are you doing EVERYTHING yourself? What would you do if you had even one more hour a day devoted solely to growing your business and making more money? Virtual assistants will make your life easier by taking the stress out of your business life. As a small business owner, you need more time so you can make more money and stay competitive in an ever-changing world. If you're spending less than 70 percent of your time on work that doesn't generate revenue, isn't building relationships, or isn't creating new products, then you're not spending enough time on your business. It means you're spending too much time in your business. This book will show you why Virtual Assistance (VA) is the answer. Hire the Right Virtual Assistant is the complete guide to: Know what a VA is and how they differ from Executive Assistants Understand the benefits and need of a VA - it's more than just outsourcing Hiring the right VA the first time in less time than you think Finally be able to use the VA right away to make the biggest impact in your business and free up your time If you had time right now to work on your business instead of in it, what could you do? Could you make a sale? Visit a client and earn more business? Make another 20 calls a day to land more clients? Work the pipeline? Network? Think about your proven method to gain more clients. Using that method, how many more clients could you have if you had more time? This is where you put a VA to work for you. They work in your business so you can work on your business. I promise that hiring a VA will be the best decision you make for your business. You will get back your time. Scroll up and pick up your copy today!"

Follow a step-by-step, hands-on approach to building production-ready enterprise cognitive virtual assistants using Google Dialogflow. This book provides an overview of the various cognitive technology choices available and takes a deep dive into cognitive virtual agents for handling complex real-life use cases in various industries such as travel and weather. You’ll delve deeper into the advanced features of cognitive virtual assistants implementing features such as input/output context, follow-up intents, actions and parameters, and handling complex multiple intents. You’ll learn how to integrate with third-party messaging platforms by integrating your cognitive bot with Facebook messenger. You’ll also integrate with third-party APIs to enrich your cognitive bots using webhooks. Cognitive Virtual Assistants Using Google Dialogflow takes the complexity out of the cognitive platform and provides rich guidance which you can use when developing your own cognitive bots. The book covers Google Dialogflow in-depth and starts with the basics, serving as a hands-on guide for developers who are starting out on their journey with Google Dialogflow. All the code presented in the book will be available in the form of scripts and configuration files, which allows you to try out the examples and extend them in interesting ways. What You Will Learn Develop cognitive bots with Google Dialogflow technologyUse advanced features to handle complex conversation scenariosEnrich the bot’s conversations by understanding the sentiment of the userSee best practices for developing cognitive botsEnhance a cognitive bot by integrating with third-party services Who This Book Is For AI and ML developers.

Do you dream of running your own successful virtual assistant business? Do you want a better work-life balance? Do you want to be your own boss? Do you want to be in control of your health, time, and be there for loved ones? If you’re looking for a book that can give you the tools and the courage you need to change your life… you’ve found it! How to be a Virtual Assistant is the essential handbook for anyone who wants to start and run their own successful business as a VA. This book will guide you through everything you need to be a successful virtual assistant.With an abundance of insider tips on what to do - and more importantly, what not to do - she has included the kind of detail that can make or break a new business, including: •How to find clients •Building your reputation •What to charge •How to network •Working with associates •What to do when you lose a client •How to find your niche Catherine Gladwyn, founder of Delegate VA – Virtual Assistant, went from PA to thriving business owner - and you can follow in her footsteps. Gain insights into every step of the process and practical advice on subjects from finding your niche to finding clients, what services to offer and what to charge, to how to prepare for losing clients and avoid running out of money. ‘Written with honesty, directness and a large pinch of Catherine’s trademark humour, How to be a Virtual Assistant will not only give you vital techniques for building your business but the self-belief you need to step out of your comfort zone and do it! ’Catherine is passionate about cheerleading people who are unappreciated and unsatisfied in their jobs to create a happier, healthier lifestyle for themselves. As she says: “I’ve looked high and low for the definition of work where it says ‘unbearable, depressing, thankless, soul-destroying’, but it doesn’t because it’s not supposed to be!” Voted Most Popular Book for VAs in the Virtual Assistant Voice Awards (2020 and 2019) Amazon bestseller in the Home Based Business category (2020, 2019 and 2018) Amazon bestseller in the Small Business & Entrepreneurship category (2020 and 2019) Listed one of ten best business books in The Independent (2018) Finalist in Wiltshire Business Awards (2017) Nomination for Business Mum of the Year (2018)