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.
Tom McNeela, chief RIA solutions officer with RetireOne, joined Cheddar News to explain how people can use their life insurance policies for an emergency loan. "There's a lot of advantages and opportunities with permanent life insurance policy," he said, "if you have one, and there's cash value in there, you can take a loan out, and most of the time, it's a better rate than what you can get at your bank."
Cheddar News checks in on The Day Ahead as more earnings are on tap from companies Thursday including Apple, Lyft, Kellogg and Expedia while Vice President is expected to meet with some top tech CEOs to discuss the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
Meta is warning that cybercriminals are tricking people into downloading programs that can steal valuable information on fake ChatGPT offers. Cheddar News explains how Meta has observed hundreds of malicious links on its platform.
The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike this week after negotiations with Hollywood studios that began in March failed to result in an agreement.
Will McDonough, founder and CEO of EMG Advisors, joined Cheddar News to discuss Wednesday's trading session after the Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.25% as tighter credit conditions continue to affect small- and medium-sized businesses.
