The speaker discusses how feedback mechanisms are crucial to improving the accuracy of AI systems and emphasizes the importance of incorporating different modalities, such as visual input, for optimal learning. They also note the need for a shift in mindset when conducting evaluations beyond standard research environments.
The Alexa Prize skill is a standalone skill focused on helping users interact and teach the system. Customers can invoke the skill by simply saying "Alexa, let's chat" and are informed that they are interacting with a university social bot, creating a transparent and fun experience.
The speaker discusses the need for researchers to change their mindset and recognize that accuracy improvements require significant team effort, as opposed to just having a great corpus of annotated data. These efforts include the feedback phase and asking what success looks like in terms of optimization functions.
In a philosophical discussion on what intelligence looks like, it was noted that for smart assistants to truly be smart, they need to have sensory abilities, such as eyes, in order to explore and understand the world like humans do.