In the past months, I've tested many vocal assistants. I've since come to the conclusion that relying on centralized servers housed by Google and Amazon for simple tasks such as turning on a light or closing my blinds, is, to put it lightly, an incredibly absurd notion. I also live in France. It doesn't make sense that my information pass the Atlantic ocean to flush a toilet at my home in Paris. Privacy implications are equally an evident concern when Amazon or Google has access to all vocal request. Regardless of the old tired argument that "I have nothing to hide" it is no secret that these entities are adept to using personal data for targeted marketing purposes. The services of Google and Amazon are not truly free in the sense of freedom. For simplicity's sake we often forfeit our privacy for these services. They are equally very elegant services, admittedly. But again you have nothing to hide, right?

This is a tutorial to make a simple vocal assistant that could work offline, meaning all the request you do will be processed locally in your home. To do this we will be using Snips, it is a French startup that has the interesting advantage to work offline. To keep things clear and simple we are going to make a very dumb assistant, simple enough to understand the architecture so later make you will make your own more interesting version. So today our assistant will just sum two numbers you will say and playback the answer: You will ask: “how much is 1 plus 2” It will answer: “3”

Affiliation: I’m not affiliated to SNIPS.AI, but I’m making a sound card for raspberry pi that has everything in one RASPIAUDIO.COM it’s a Hat DAC+Speakers+microphone+button and led, you can choose to use my sound card or use your own sound card).