I used otter to transcribe a conversation I was having with my amazing summer intern, and I think because she's a lot younger than I am, I must have thrown in some extra "likes". I cleaned the convo up quickly then went and hit publish. Not until a few hours later did I go back and take another look... and... Like. Ick. Do I really talk like that? Well not anymore.
I've been really enjoying the freedom and flow of blogging by dictation...
...and how it shapes my sentences differently than I might type them. And now that practice is potentially changing the way I speak. Speaking changing the way I write, reading it back, changing the way I speak.
Talking to Bots
Everything in life is like that if you're paying attention. Especially in terms of human interaction with technology. As AI becomes smarter (and eventually like, uh, smarter than humans) our interactions will shape our humanity even more. Like a (hopefully) positive feedback loop. And yes, I'd say that's a fair use of the word like.
As I write this, I'm waiting on hold for a Lowes customer service rep to help with the lawnmower I ordered last week. 45 minutes of wasted time. If I was able to connect to an intelligent Lowes AI bot that could not only help me, but perhaps give me some tips on how to use the lawn mower, tell me how often I might need to mow in my part of the world, maybe even have a discussion on weeding and gardening, that might very much change my behavior and up my intelligence... instead of just making me annoyed with a "we're still assisting other customers" message and a grating midi-song loop.
Just Befort the Singularity
So in that way I can't wait for ubiquitous, intelligent AI. There's gonna be a sweet spot before they go Terminator on our asses.
But for now... "...please continue to hold..."
Yours in the Chain,
Doug
Image courtesy of Grasia Hald / medium.com