Free open source software is important, but here at Mycroft AI we have another use for the acronym FOSS → Fast, Open, Simple, Strong. This acronym encapsulates our approach to building AI and underpins everything our developer community does.
Fast
Our community iterates quickly and makes changes based on evidence. We do this while following the first commandment of any IoT software team – THOU SHALT NOT BRICK THE DEVICES. Provided that commandment is followed, the software development team is free to engage in a rapid cycle of learning and iterating. It is no accident that Fast is our first guiding principle. To build an open platform that can catch up to and surpass the performance of technologies like Amazon Alexa we need to move quickly. We also need to make changes based not on opinion or conjecture, but on evidence. That means we pay attention to user behavior and work hard to develop interactions that are simple, natural and easy to navigate.
Open
Openness is the foundation of our community and our company. It is what makes our effort different from the major Silicon Valley players. We are committed to creating a technology that can be altered, extended and customized by both enthusiasts and commercial enterprises. By being open with the software and, importantly, the data, we can build a strong global community of developers and industry partners to move the technology forward.
Simple
Our design philosophy is simple. Every interaction should be as simple as possible. Talking to your technology using Mycroft should be as easy as talking to a friend. The system should be easy to configure, deploy and support. Interactions should be simple, clean and intuitive. Why? Because technology that is over-engineered and exposes every single setting to the user has a tendency to be underutilized. Here at Mycroft AI, we want users to utilize the technology every day. That means presenting them with a clean, easy to use and simple interaction.
Strong
We are building a strong AI. Our vision is a technology that turns any device into an artificial intelligence that interacts naturally and behaves like a person. This technology is inevitable. We aim to be the team that achieves it first and rather than locking it behind closed doors, we intend to open it to the world.
If you are thinking about contributing to Mycroft or adopting our technology for your enterprise, please keep our principles in mind. Mycroft → free open source software that is fast, open, simple, and strong.
Mycroft’s First Officer, a serial entrepreneur and Air Force Officer, Joshua brings more than 15 years of leadership experience to the Mycroft team. He is a strong supporter of the open ethos, net neutrality and consumer privacy. Joshua lives in Holualoa, Hawaii with his wife and co-founder Kris Adair.