Category: Technology

It’s been a little over a week since I upgraded all of my devices to the latest operating systems.

Thus far, it’s been pretty good. I’ve noticed a few little glitches but nothing annoying enough to make me want to downgrade.

I’m assuming that some of the visual errors and some of the other unpredictable behaviors in my phone, my iPad and my computer will be addressed by some point release of the software in upcoming months.

I have to give Apple credit. They did a good job on all of these operating systems.

I am curious to see how Siri is improved by AI. Lately, I’ve been playing around with the Dictation system and honestly it’s better than I thought it would be.

I don’t know that it’s good enough for me to be able to write an entire story, more properly, dictate an entire story, but it is surprisingly good.

I can remember using some early dictation software and boy it wasn’t even hit and miss, it was miss & miss.

I’m still unconvinced that the artificial intelligence is going to be helpful. I worry that it might make things so that people don’t have to really think about what they’re doing.

I’m not sure that the AI is going to be that kind of smart and I doubt it will be a replacement for humans but I can see a bunch of people thinking that they just aren’t going to have to do any kind of work or thinking for themselves, they’ll let the machines do it. I’ve seen it in the past with people interacting with computer systems.

The most irritating phrase I’ve ever heard is, “The computer says…”

I’ve been known to annoy mindless people who told me “the computer said,” with asking them what they think. I’ve also asked, who controls who? Are you the tool of the computer or is the computer your tool?

In the past, some people would get it.

These days, all I get is a blank mindless look which, in itself, answers the question.

I can tell you this, I am not ready to have a full-blown two way conversation with an AI. I don’t think I could contain myself. I wonder how AIs will respond to obscene language?

I wonder if we’ll be able to insult an AI by calling it HAL?

The spookiest part about all of this is AI’s computational abilities might produce a better customer service experience.

If the AI has the ability to answer your question by looking at all of the relevant data in say, your past five years of electric bills, it could produce a better experience and would eliminate the need for humans in customer service roles.

I gotta admit there’s another flight of fancy that goes through my head. What would happen if I was able to ask my personal assistant, say Siri, to get in contact with the AI from the water company to sort out a billing question or error. That would be really weird, my computer/device talking to their computer/device and solving a problem that was vexing me the poor dumb human.

It really could turn into a situation where the machines, our creations (our children if you will), become our caretakers and it’s entirely possible that it will speed humanity straight on towards extinction.

When I think about stuff like that, My only thoughts are,

“Well, we had a good run. 

Maybe the AIs will do better than we did.”