One of the most interesting questions that people ask me when I tell them about the Hal app is “Why?”
Their first thought often is a knee jerk response like this: “Why would I use the Hal app when I can use Siri, Alexa or Google for a solution or an answer to something?”
But once they hear the MANY reasons why our customers renew month after month or year after year, it all makes sense. Let me explain…
Primarily, one of the main issues with AI alone is that it cannot distinguish between several choices that it finds when it attempts to answer a query. Even worse, it may land on a sponsored result, which means an ad gets top priority because someone with an agenda (usually a company or a website who wants to have you sign up for something they offer) paid for that privilege. And while ads in and of themselves may not be “evil”, often they are not as relevant as they actual results or answers you seek.
Think about those times when you’ve asked a question to one of those precious gadgets and they responded with “I’ll have to get back with you on that” or “I’m not sure I understand” or “I’m not sure I have enough information” or “Here are some results from the web” — and you see 127 pages of results on the screen.
In those moments we all recognize the severe shortcomings of what a great search is all about and how we need something (or someone!) with more insight into the answer we seek.
We can get exasperated rephrasing and rephrasing so that Alexa or Siri “get it” and give us some type of answer that doesn’t require us to comb through tons of websites just to get what we need!
Then there are those times when we are busy focused on something else — like driving or cooking over a hot stove — and can’t afford to lose focus and search through a bunch of things if we want to remain safe. It’s not feasible to rely on the fact that a question we pose to our gadgets begets ANOTHER question to further clarify the first question…which then leads to a follow up question that requires a new search….
You get the idea.
Or how about when we want feedback on a creating a new name for our business or some options on how to create logo design we need? Does the internet give us a considered opinion that we can actually discuss in some fashion? Of course not. It’s a one way street with no exit.
These ‘pebbles in the shoe’ of most search related inquiries need more help. They need an interpreter…a resource who better understands the nature of the question or at least can work with you to better grasp what it is you need. And while we at Hal LOVE technology in all its many forms, we recognize there is a huge need for something else to make these moments useful, purposeful and helpful:
You need human intervention to cut through the clutter, decipher the real issue at hand, and strip out the ‘noise’ of paid results and hokey answers that simply do not satisfy your need for a more specific answer.
And that’s Hal’s secret weapon: sharp people who can take the process to the next level to ensure you get what you need in a fashion that is most useful to you! Also, Hal never uses ad sponsored results to your inquiry. Your Hal curates the data they find to provide a well thought out response instead!
So if you are considering the “why” behind Hal’s success, think of all those times when our favorite search resources came up incredibly short and you walked away from your Echo muttering to yourself about how Alexa “doesn’t get it”.
And then, open your iPhone or your iPad and download the Hal app. You’ll be very glad you did! [Coming soon to Android as well]
