Will Technology Kill Conversation?
Sponsored by ConXhub.
We are steadily and imperceptibly heading towards a world of artificial intelligence, robots and bots to the point that many instances in which we would naturally speak to another human being are being replaced.
“Alexa, can you order me four bottles of Chardonnay from A Taste of France?”
“Siri, can you book a seat on the Gatwick Express to get me to the airport for 3:30 tomorrow?”
In just 30 years we have already moved away from visiting a local store or a booking office and verbally ordering and buying items, to going online and clicking boxes. More recently, we have started asking our AI assistants to take over these roles, and as technology improves it will handle all functions of a process seamlessly:
“Aimee, can you book a seat on the Gatwick Express to get me to the airport for 3:30 tomorrow?”
“Mark, I have booked a seat for tomorrow, added it to your calendar and your ticket is available on your mobile. Would you like me to book an Uber to get you to Victoria station 10 minutes before you depart?”
To complete this task in full, Aimee needs to know what day it is to determine “tomorrow,” that Gatwick Express is a train, that you want to go to Gatwick airport, from where you will start your journey, train timetables, delay information, pricing, payment options and access to your calendar—and I have probably missed a step or two.
In reality, we are not far away from this type of resource being fully available, and, thinking further, we are simply a step away from you boarding the train utilizing an implanted chip that confirms who you are and your reservation. My fridge which automatically knows what is inside and is keeping track of daily requirements will connect with my personal assistant which will handle my restocking needs:
“Mark, I have compiled a grocery list for you, would you like me to place an order?”
“Yes, please, (always good to be polite to your assistant), but can you add a packet of Maltesers to the list?”
“Are you sure? Fitbit tells me you are a few kilos over your target weight.”
“Yes I’m sure, tell Fitbit to increase my circuit training by 10 minutes starting tomorrow am.”
My assistant could have read out the shopping list to me or posted it to my device so I could confirm the contents, but in the not too distant future I believe we will have more wearable tech including a HUD (Heads up display) projecting images in front of our eyes, so the shopping list could magically appear in front of me and a flick of my finger will scroll the list.
A little further into the future, and wearable tech will become implanted, so I will have full control over my whole life without needing third party devices.
Our main form of communication at the moment is actually written—I’m using it now, typing to create this article—and if I think about all the instances I have communicated today, outside of the odd conversation with my wife every other moment has been engaged in typing; LinkedIn posts, emails, board member updates, blog posts, IM’s and three articles. However, future technology will actually lead us to speak more, dishing out commands and requests to our assistant like a stroppy teenager in front of his adoring Mum: “Can you get me…. ?” “Can we have sausages tonight?” “Where’s my favorite football shirt?” “Can you pick me up at… ?”
Conversion is quicker than typing, it doesn’t require a secondary device and with enhancements in AI, it will probably become a personalized abbreviated language that you develop with your assistant similar to how Cockney slang or other regional dialects developed.
“Aimee, send an email to… ” “Aimee create a note to the board.” With 99% accuracy in AI, I probably could have saved a couple of hours today alone, considering all the typing I have done, and it would have even handled the research:
“Aimee, what was the name of the English comedian that used to dress as a big busted woman?”
“Do you mean Les Dawson?”
“That’s him, can you get me a picture of him in conversation with his co-star?”
“How about this one?”
“Perfect, thanks Aimee!”
Already, tasks like making appointments can be handled by AI, and while currently AI is using email to complete this task, it is close to making calls to actual secretaries and PAs to set up meetings, and it already interacts with diaries in real time.
We are a short step away from one person's AI talking with another person's AI with us never being involved in the process—we will simply turn up at the allotted time having alighted our “drone taxi” at the designated destination. We used to physically interact and converse with a whole range of people; shop keepers, milkmen, telephone engineers, door to door salesman (giving my age away) and company receptionists, to name a few.
Many of these roles have already disappeared and more and more will be replaced with machines, meaning we run into the danger of only ever conversing with machines in our everyday lives.
Sure it’s a danger, and some mortals might prefer the solitude of “me and my assistant,” but I don’t see it that way. I prefer to see a world where my assistant handles all the mundane stuff, ordering things, giving me reminders, making suggestions to improve my well being and life—“Shall I book your annual check up with Dr Miles?” or “I’ve spotted a new book by Michael Tobin centered on work life balance, shall I order a copy?”—leaving me more time to interact with more people.
This article was actually stimulated by a phone call I received from a good friend yesterday. He had recently been off the grid for, personal reasons. His call was well overdue and I think we both benefited from the experience—I for one was certainly enlivened by the conversation.
I’m not a psychologist but I don’t think a machine can ever be a replacement for human interaction—bottom line; it’s good to talk, but it’s better to talk to each other!
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Sponsored by ConXhub.