In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- Innovation involves more than creating something brand-new
- Why we should be asking what kind of world improved voice technology will create
- Optimizing voice technology is the current Wild West of the world
What Is Innovation?
Innovation is Angela’s job. She recognizes that sounds abstract and explains that most of her work entails researching and thinking about what audiences will be like in five to ten years. Her goal: predict and plan for what kinds of stories will attract audiences.
“Innovation is about being adaptable and resilient to change so that you can make better and quicker decisions.”
Teams that work together well and frequently make good decisions tend to be the most innovative. Angela says any team looking to create something new — whether that be a product, service or process — can benefit from having conversations with people across disciplines. This grants a broader perspective and the opportunity to learn about various audiences and pain points.
Angela admits that trying to predict what people will want in the future is a difficult task that requires lots of resources. She urges investing your team and content with core competencies that will always be needed no matter what the future looks like: e.g. trust, the ability to connect with the community and entertainment.
Exploration And Risk
Though big companies like ABC have the bandwidth to test emerging technologies, Angela says that their strengths are also their weaknesses. Big companies move slowly and have an established audience — and therefore less appetite for risk — while smaller businesses can gain momentum quicker.
Angela hopes that the risks ABC enables her to take with new technology will benefit the community and the industry as a whole. Innovation alone isn’t enough — we must be willing to share it in order for our work to make an impact.
What Is The Future Of Voice Tech?
Angela finds home technology like the smart speaker exciting. It still has lots of glitches — which mean opportunities.
“[Voice technology] feels like the early cusp of something that will really change how seamlessly we will interact with technology — and how we probably end up putting down screens more often.”
However, Angela balances her excitement with trepidation.
“The flip side of [voice technology] is the trust issue. How much do we really want big tech to be in amongst us all the time? And in all of our devices?”
Angela feels the backdrop of emerging voice technologies is scarier than the one against which the internet emerged in the 90s; big tech companies have violated many people’s trust and have already built an empire. She thinks it’s important that innovators ask: What kind of world will this new technology create?
“‘What will traditional media companies be in 5 or 10 years time?’ is, I think, more pressing a question than ever before.”
No one can predict the impact of new technologies. But if we train ourselves to make good decisions fast, we will be able to act more decisively and prudently when change arises.
