Bayer Launches Amazon Alexa Skill to Turn Students into Scientists
*By Michael Teich*
Bayer is turning to Amazon Alexa to find the world's next big scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.
The German pharmaceutical and science giant is launching "Science Studio," an Alexa STEM education skill designed to engage the next generation of students.
"This is now ears-on-science to do the hands-on-science. Let's go to where the kids are and let's help get them excited about science," Ray Kerins, Bayer's SVP of Corporate Affairs said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Bayer's efforts caught the attention of six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She sees STEM education as a big opportunity to build a bright future for girls.
"To get young girls to have an interest in science, and then with this Alexa Echo app, it's just amazing," she told Cheddar.
It is projected that nearly 2.5 million STEM jobs will go unfilled in 2018. By introducing science experiment instructions integrated with Amazon's ($AMZN) smart speaker, Bayer thinks investing in STEM education can minimize future vacancies in the field.
"Kids lose interest on STEM and science in the 5th and 6th grade. More importantly, unfortunately, young girls lose it and minorities even worse so," Kerins added.
Targeting smart speakers gives Bayer a foot in the door into millions of homes. In 2017, there were 45 million connected homes using virtual assistants and that number is expected to more than double in the next couple of years. It is estimated that 94.2 million households, or 75 percent of U.S. households, will own a smart speaker by 2020.
Ford says it’s reducing production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup vehicle as it adjusts to weaker-than-expected electric vehicle sales growth. The automaker said about 1,400 workers will be impacted by the move.
Walmart Inc. is raising the starting base pay for store managers, while redesigning its bonus plan that will put more of an emphasis on profits for these leaders.
Despite concerns about shipping delays in the Red Sea, RSM Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas says there are still reasons to be optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy.
Dan Ives, Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Wedbush Securities dives deeper into a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) that Apple has ended Samsung's 12-year reign as the world's largest smartphone seller.
Artificial intelligence is the biggest buzzword at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. Advances in generative AI stunned the world last year, and the elite crowd is angling to take advantage of its promise and minimize its risks.
Smartphones could get much smarter this year as the next wave of artificial intelligence seeps into the devices that accompany people almost everywhere they go.
In an annual assessment of global inequalities, Oxfam International said the first trillionaire could emerge within the next decade — as the anti-poverty organization pointed to the growing wealth gap that skyrocketed globally during the pandemic.
