Two Voice Devs
201 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago -Mark and Allen talk about the latest news in the VoiceFirst world from a developer point of view.
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Episodes
Episode 149 - Recent Projects: Cards and Chains
June 01, 2023 15:00 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBIt's been a busy week! What have we been up to? Mark has released a new set of cards that summarize and illustrate different AI concepts. Called "AI Explorer Cards of Discovery", we chat about the objectives and the process to create this deck. (And there's a special offer for listeners!) Meanwhile, Allen has been working with Google's new PaLM model as part of Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and has contributed changes to the popular LangChainJS package to make PaLM available through the ...
Episode 148 - AI Voodoo With Vodo Drive
May 25, 2023 15:00 - 56 minutes - 52.1 MBSO MUCH packed into this episode! Recently, Allen participated in a hackathon sponsored by VoiceFlow, and he used the opportunity to explore ways that LLMs could be used to build on his work talking with spreadsheets in Vodo Drive (see episode 116). He and Mark explore how he did it - from the prompts that were required to integration with VoiceFlow and Google App Script, to how tools like LangChain will help build similar things. We also explore what lessons are learned, how our experience...
Episode 147 - Google AI/O 2023 Recap
May 18, 2023 15:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBIt's Google I/O time again! And although Allen couldn't attend in person, he and Mark review the latest announcements relevant to #VoiceFirst and #ConversationalAI developers. From new AI availability to AI workspace, with stops along the way to discuss AI powered hardware, there was lots to hear about. Also some subtle hints from what wasn't said. But did we mention the AI? Learn more: * https://blog.google/technology/developers/google-io-2023-100-announcements/
Episode 146 - Visions of Vector Databases
May 11, 2023 15:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBWe've touched on the use of vector databases as we've started to explore how LLMs and conversational AIs can be useful, but what are they and how do they work? How are they used for more than just LLMs? Mark and Allen explore some of the classic vector DBs, such as HNSW, and some of the newer fully managed ones, including Metal and Pinecone. We even start to ponder what a fully managed embedding and vector db system might look like from the likes of Google, Azure, or AWS, and are surprised t...
Episode 145 - Alexa Widgets are Here!
May 04, 2023 15:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBLong teased, the ability for developers to create Alexa Widgets is finally generally available! Mark, an Alexa Champion, has had access for a while now, so he and Allen discuss what it takes to make a Widget, what's new and different, and how it fits into the #VoiceFirst world of skills.
Episode 144 - Experiments With LangChain (Part 2)
April 27, 2023 15:00 - 47 minutes - 43 MBWe're still exploring what LangChain can do, and this week we dive into a tutorial put out by the Voiceflow team that discusses some ways that it can be integrated with ChatGPT using LangChain, bringing the #VoiceFirst and #ConversationalAI worlds closer together. Also a great example of how we go about learning and understanding code that is new to us. Resources: * The tutorial we were following: https://www.voiceflow.com/blog/voiceflow-assistant-openai-gpt
Episode 143 - Experiments With LangChain (Part 1)
April 20, 2023 15:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MBOver the past few weeks, Mark and Allen have been playing with LangChain and OpenAI, exploring where #ConversationalAI and #VoiceFirst design intersects, and we recorded some of our experiments. In this early one, we take a look at how LangChain with a memory chain can work and keep track of what's going on in the conversation. All in just a few lines of code. More significantly, we discuss the role that LangChain can play in putting together AI and other API components to create voice, web,...
Episode 142 - More From APL 2023.1
April 13, 2023 15:00 - 13 minutes - 12.8 MBThe latest update for the Alexa Presentation Language, APL 2023.1, has been out for a little bit, and Mark and Allen already discussed one of the biggest features - speech marks. But there was more to this release! Allen is, perhaps, even more excited about how selectors can enable some very dynamic APL interactions, and video subtitles and new graphic masks round out what's new. More info: * https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/alexa-presentation-language/apl-latest-version.html ...
Episode 141 - Workin' on the LangChain (Part 2)
April 06, 2023 15:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBGuest host Noble Ackerson returns to tie all the pieces of LangChain together and help Allen understand what it does, why it is an increasingly valuable toolkit for many #ConversationalAI developers, and how we can use it to help build #VoiceFirst applications. Resources: * LangChain: https://github.com/hwchase17/langchain * LangChainJS: https://github.com/hwchase17/langchainjs
Episode 140 - ChatGPT Plugins (and Voice Agents?)
March 30, 2023 15:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBWith the announcement last week that ChatGPT will soon be supporting plugins, Mark and Allen explore what this means for developers, particularly developers who are used to #VoiceFirst development with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung Bixby. OpenAI is launching it with some interesting features, including hints at how to monetize plugins, but there are still many questions that developers will need answers to. We explore what will be coming, how to prepare for it, what OpenAI stil...
Episode 139 - Workin' on the LangChain (Part 1)
March 23, 2023 15:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBAllen has been trying to get into building apps that include LLMs, and has been hearing a lot about the LangChain library. But trying to understand it can be... dizzying. Guest host Noble Ackerson joins to help answer some of the questions about LangChain and how it can bring #ConversationalAI to the #VoiceFirst world and how to use it with your existing APIs.
Episode 138 - Time After Time
March 16, 2023 15:00 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBWith Daylight Saving Time ending in the US last weekend, Mark and Allen figured it would be a good... time... to take a look at what date and time features are available to voice developers on Alexa, Alexa APL, Google Dialogflow, Google App Actions, and Jovo. Not to mention discussing the role of ISO-8601 date/time formats, JavaScript libraries such as Luxon, and why UTC isn't always the right time zone. Resources: Luxon: https://moment.github.io/luxon/ Alexa Date/Time slots: https://deve...
Episode 137 - Analytics and BigQuery
March 09, 2023 16:00 - 23 minutes - 21.1 MBWith Google's Universal Analytics sunsetting, everyone is looking at what other tools are available to record user activity in our skills and chatbots. At Allen's suggestion, Mark had checked out the BigQuery service offered by Google Cloud Platform, and created a Jovo plugin to make it available for everyone. We discuss BigQuery and how to use it and this new plugin. Resources: https://www.jovo.tech/marketplace/analytics-bigquery https://cloud.google.com/bigquery
Episode 136 - What To Do With Stuff That's New
March 02, 2023 16:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBWe've been exploring some new tools, concepts, and libraries - Mark has been looking at tools to do Named Entity Recognition, while Allen has been exploring the LangChain AI library. But this leads to the question - as you're just starting to learn something new, how do you do so? Do you start with example code? Or YouTube videos? Or what? We share what has worked well for us, along with some early discoveries about what we've been looking at.
Episode 135 - Simple STT with Picovoice and Leopard
February 23, 2023 16:00 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBIf you're working on a #VoiceFirst application that requires Speech to Text in a controlled environment (for example, on an embedded device or in a medical environment), you don't want to have to rely on cloud processing such as those available from Google or AWS. Even if you are willing to use the cloud, it may be cheaper to run your own STT service. Mark and Allen discuss one such way to do so - using the Leopard STT product from Picovoice. Additional info: Serverless Speech to Text arti...
Episode 134 - All About (Speech) Mark
February 16, 2023 16:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBOne of our favorite #VoiceFirst features (and not just because of the name) has come to Alexa! Allen and Mark (the real Mark) discuss the new onSpeechMark event that is now available in APL, how it compares to the feature in the Google Assistant Interactive Canvas, and some ways that you can use it to make more powerful and dynamic APL displays.
Episode 133 - Dialogflow Deeper Dive
February 09, 2023 16:00 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBIn our previous episode, Allen and Mark talked about the differences between Dialogflow ES and CX and how both had a notion of front-end integrations. This week, they go in a little deeper, discussing the various ways you can write your own integration if you need to - either by sending text or audio to the Dialogflow API.
Episode 132 - Discussing Dialogflow
February 02, 2023 16:00 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBMany #VoiceFirst developers know of Dialogflow as a Natural Language Understanding (NLU) system. But is there more to it? Mark and Allen discuss what's different between Dialogflow ES and CX, what's the same, and how both of them provide added value to voice developers (as well as designers).
Episode 131 - Going Google for the Chat API
January 26, 2023 16:00 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBDid you know Google Chat has an API? That you can build bots for? And that it can even integrate directly with Dialogflow, PubSub, or Google's App Script? Allen introduces Mark to some of the unique and powerful features that the Google Chat API has, explores the various ways you can use it, and ponders some things we can learn when developing for #VoiceFirst.
Episode 130 - Must Check Microsoft Chatbots
January 19, 2023 16:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBHow is a chatbot different from what we usually think about in the #VoiceFirst world? There are parallels, so Mark discusses some of his recent explorations in what is going on with Microsoft and support for chatbots and Allen compares to some other technology available to developers. There are some interesting updates and changes in progress!
Episode 129 - Wondering About Alexa Widgets
January 12, 2023 16:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBMore third party widgets are becoming available for Amazon Alexa, so Mark takes the opportunity to share what he can about how widgets work, how they go beyond a #VoiceFirst design, and how you can get started designing them to accompany your skills. Allen... has some choice facial reactions in response.
Episode 128 - Looking Forward to 2023
January 05, 2023 16:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBAs we kick off the new year, Allen and Mark look ahead at what's coming (or what we *hope* is coming) in the #VoiceFirst world this year. From Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant to custom agents and AI, what do we think the year ahead will bring? What are you looking forward to?
Episode 127 - Looking Back at 2022
December 29, 2022 16:00 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MBAs the end of 2022 looms, Mark and Allen look back at some of the highlights of the show, of #VoiceFirst development, of working with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant, and of talking to all of you.
Episode 126 - The Twelve Days of Voice-mas
December 22, 2022 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.73 MBWishing you the warmest of holiday seasons from all of us at Two Voice Devs and the #VoiceFirst Community Choir. Featuring Jeff Blankenberg Maaike Coppens Jessica Earley-Cha Pete Erickson Lisa Falkson Nick Felker Allen Firstenberg Dana Gibson Tom Hewitson Toni Klopfenstein Cathy Pearl Noelle Russell Nick Schwab Jon Stine Mark Tucker Denis Valášek Sarah Wilson with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Script Mark Tucker with ChatGPT Editing Allen Firstenberg with De...
Episode 125 - Chatting About (and With) ChatGPT
December 15, 2022 16:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBThe biggest buzz the past few weeks have been about ChatGPT from OpenAI, with some folks in the #VoiceFirst community pondering how this is going to change the nature of conversation design and voice development. Mark and Allen talk about what works with ChatGPT, what doesn't, and how voice developers might be thinking about it's role with building conversational apps and platforms in the future. Learn more: * ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/chat
Episode 124 - On the Downside
December 08, 2022 16:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBThe tech industry isn't always full of better and better things happening. Sometimes... there are setback, reassignments, poor sales, and layoffs. The recent news out of Amazon, particularly in the hardware and Alexa division, and with the Google Assistant have indicated that the #VoiceFirst movement may have hit some hard times. Allen and Mark talk about what's going on and extend our best hopes for those impacted. Some further reading: Details from VoiceBot.ai: https://voicebot.ai/2022/1...
Episode 123 - About App Actions
December 01, 2022 17:00 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBAs Google has been sunsetting conversational actions, they've been ramping up with support for the new App Actions for Google Assistant. Mark and Allen discuss what App Actions offer for both users and developers and how this compares and contrasts to skills for Amazon's Alexa and apps for Apple's Siri
Episode 122 - Once Again, Our Thanks
November 24, 2022 16:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBWe'd like to extend our thanks to so many people in the #VoiceFirst community, our jobs, our family... and you, our listeners.
Episode 121 - Why Voice Isn't a Stretch With VoicePT
November 17, 2022 16:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBMark sits down with Brett Adler, developer of the award winning VoicePT skill, to discuss his background in software development, low code and no code tools, and how his personal experiences brought him to developing a multi-modal #VoiceFirst assistant that helps physical therapy patients do their exercises. More about VoicePT at https://devpost.com/software/voicept
Episode 120 - Live and In Person at VOICE22
November 10, 2022 16:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBWhen you're seeing each other for the first time in 3 years, you make it an event! That's what Mark and Allen recently did when they met up at the 2022 Voice Summit in Alexandria, VA. And what better way to commemorate the event than to record a session of Two Voice Devs live in front of an audience? Why, to welcome questions from that audience! Hear our thoughts on #VoiceFirst topics from what developers need to real estate and urban planning in the DC metro region. Our thanks to the VOICE...
Episode 119 - Reading Alexa's Signature
November 03, 2022 15:00 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MBNot every technology we deal with in Voice is a #VoiceFirst technology, sometimes we need some "adjacent" skill. This week, Mark discusses some recent issues he had involving the validation signature that Alexa provides to skills that run outside AWS Lambda, and Allen provides his perspectives about how these same issues were addressed using Google's Dialogflow. Resources: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/host-a-custom-skill-as-a-web-service.html#check-request-si...
Episode 118 - Voicing Thoughts on Glass' Future
October 27, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBAllen may be well known for coordinating his wardrobe with his Google Glass, but he's also as passionate about Glass as he is about Voice. With recent announcements coming from Google about Enterprise Glass v2, Mark asks Allen about what developers should be expecting for Glass' future. And where, exactly, does voice fit into that anyway? More about Glass: Glass Info: https://www.google.com/glass/start/ Developer Info: https://developers.google.com/glass-enterprise/ New updates: https://...
Episode 117 - VOICE22 Perspectives and Presentations
October 20, 2022 21:45 - 14 minutes - 13 MBNow that Mark and Allen have returned from #VOICE22, they take a look at what the summit was like a share a bit about their presentations. Allen talks about outents and how tools like Dialogflow and Multivocal assist with this concept, while Mark talked about developing a #VoiceFirst prescription system for Alexa.
Episode 116 - Spreadsheet Voodoo with Vodo Drive
October 17, 2022 21:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBWhat does it feel like to talk with a spreadsheet? That's the core question behind Vodo Drive (pronounced like "to-do"), one of Allen's big projects for the Google Assistant. After a demo, Allen and Mark discuss how Vodo Drive works, what it teaches us about building large #VoiceFirst software projects, and what the future holds as Vodo Drive needs to move to Amazon Alexa. Learn more about Vodo Drive at VodoDrive.com
Episode 115 - Author! Author!
October 07, 2022 03:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBHow do you learn new skills in the #VoiceFirst arena? How do you share what you've learned with others? A week before the Voice Summit, Mark and Allen share their experiences as authors, documenters, podcasters, and public speakers.
Episode 114 - Rules And Regulations (Part 2)
September 29, 2022 17:35 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBNo matter if you're building an app for the iPhone or Android, a Google Action, or an Amazon Alexa Skill, there are guidelines that you need to follow to make sure your app is approved by the review team. Mark and Allen go over morerules that you should read before you start to develop your #VoiceFirst skill. Check out the guidelines for Alexa: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/policy-testing-for-an-alexa-skill.html
Episode 113 - Rules And Regulations (Part 1)
September 22, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBNo matter if you're building an app for the iPhone or Android, a Google Action, or an Amazon Alexa Skill, there are guidelines that you need to follow to make sure your app is approved by the review team. Mark and Allen go over some of the rules that you should read before you start to develop your #VoiceFirst skill. Check out the guidelines for Alexa: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/policy-testing-for-an-alexa-skill.html
Episode 112 - Beyond the Assistants: Getting Input
September 15, 2022 15:00 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBIf you're building your own #VoiceFirst app outside the assistants, you'll also need to think about how you get input from people. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available from AWS and Google Cloud (and others) that will help you do this. Mark and Allen go over the raw technologies involved in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and Natural Language Understanding / Processing (NLU / NLP), how they work (broadly speaking), and some thoughts on what needs to be done for the future. R...
Episode 111 - Beyond the Assistants: Sending Output
September 08, 2022 15:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBNot every assistant needs to be part of Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant. What if you're developing your own voice assistant? How do you take care of some tasks like getting output to your users? In this episode, Allen and Mark give an overview of some of the technologies available to you to send audio exactly the way you want it to sound and some of the tools that are available to use. Resources mentioned: Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) specification - https://www.w3.org/TR/s...
Episode 110 - Building a Jovo Plugin
September 01, 2022 15:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBMark's been on a roll recently, converting many of the utilities he's built as part of writing Amazon Alexa Skills and Google Assistant Actions into open source plugins for Jovo. This week, Mark and Allen discuss why these kinds of libraries are important, review Mark's latest plugin to generate random player names, and uses this as an example for how to build a plugin for Jovo.
Episode 109 - Verify and Verify Again
August 25, 2022 15:02 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBMaking sure our #VoiceFirst applications are written securely and use secure components is important. And when one of those components has a security bug, it is important that we update it as soon as we can. Mark highlights a recent security vulnerability in the node-forge module, which is used by the alexa-verifier-middleware module. Mark and Allen then discuss what the verifier does and how we can be careful when it comes to using libraries. Some references: alexa-verifier-middleware: ht...
Episode 108 - It's a Developer Challenge!
August 18, 2022 15:00 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBAllen and Mark chat about the Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge: Aging & Engaging event that is currently in progress that offers cash prizes to developers for creating #VoiceFirst skills that are targeted to the over 55 crowd. Mark is a judge, so has to be a little reserved in what he says, but there's lots of discussion about tools that teams can use to participate and tips for creating skills that have a chance of winning (and are good quality skills!). Learn more: https://alexaskillsaging.d...
Episode 107 - Skill, Book, and Handle
August 11, 2022 15:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBGuest Host Craig Walls joins Allen to discuss his latest book on #VoiceFirst development for Amazon Alexa, Build Talking Apps for Alexa, as well as what went into his skill to help Disney Theme Park explorers - Mouse Guests.
Episode 106 - Supporting Open Source: Sanity and Jovo
August 04, 2022 15:00 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBMark goes over the latest open source package that he's developed with his company, RAIN, for the #VoiceFirst community. This allows developers to build a CMS system using Sanity that provides content through Jovo. Allen and Mark discuss why these sorts of systems are important, how they improve Voice-based systems, and some future improvements to improve performance. Links: https://www.jovo.tech/marketplace/cms-sanity
Episode 105 - What's New From Alexa Live 2022
July 28, 2022 15:00 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBLast week, Amazon Alexa ran their annual developer event, Alexa Live, where they showcased a number of new #VoiceFirst features for Alexa. Mark and Allen take a look at the list of announcements for Skill developers and give some first thoughts on what they mean. Links: Feature Roundup: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/blogs/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/2022/07/Alexa-live-feature-roundup-july-2022 Skill Developer Announcements: https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/blogs/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/...
Episode 104 - Two Years, Two Voice Devs
July 21, 2022 15:00 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MBIt's our Second Anniversary show! In addition to a few kind words from our friends, Mark and Allen celebrate by sharing what goes on behind the scenes when creating an episode. How do we come up with #VoiceFirst topics? What is our recording setup like? How do we make transcriptions? Why does Allen always wear a blue shirt? How do you get an episode out every week? Thank you, everyone, for your questions and your support as we enter our third year! Mentioned: Descript - descript.com gimp...
Episode 103 - You Get A Badge! And You Get A Badge!
July 14, 2022 15:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBOpen Source components can be incredibly useful when building your #VoiceFirst Skill or app. Allen asks Mark about his latest Open Source project, Badgerific, which is aimed at rewarding users tokens or badges under certain, specific, conditions. Badgerific: https://github.com/rmtuckerphx/badgerific
Episode 102 - Iterating Intents Intentionally
July 07, 2022 15:00 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBBased on a question from StackOverflow, Allen and Mark explore the question about how to handle a #VoiceFirst scenario where the user needs to provide a list of several items one at a time (a food order, for example). If we're expecting the user to fill in a slot multiple times, or trigger an intent multiple times, before saying they're ready to move on - how do we make sure this intent gets handled over and over? Mark offers ways to handle this using Jovo and the Alexa Skills Kit, while All...
Episode 101 - What Have You Learned This Week?
June 30, 2022 16:48 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBWith Mark and Allen's plans to explore some new tools and features for #VoiceFirst developers, we discuss what we've been playing with for the past week. Mark talks about the Dialog Management API in VoiceFlow and how it can be used by Amazon Alexa developers as a way to easily design and deploy skills, while Allen takes his first steps into re-learning Android development for App Actions. More information: https://developer.voiceflow.com/reference https://developer.android.com/guide/app-...
Episode 100 - Looking Back, Looking Forward
June 23, 2022 15:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBOn the occasion of our 100th episode, and with big changes in the #VoiceFirst industry from Google and beyond, Mark and Allen take a moment to look back on where voice has been, and what new developer tools and platforms we'll be looking at for the next 100 episodes.