While not using terms of politeness such as ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is logical since it is after all a machine, I too feel the same way as the father, a sense of discomfort with giving peremptory instructions to anyone.
Mano Singham
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If I’m having a conversation in a car, I always pause when the satnav starts talking. It just feels rude to talk over her, since what she’s saying is probably more important.
I suppose this is intended to be droll, instead of very silly.
(Ah well, everyone’s sense of humour is different)
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But that’s not the case here; it’s merely a case of a verbose but imprecise query.
(OTOH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc )
I want it mandated by law that you have to say “please” and “thank you” to those devices or they don’t react, because I am sick and tired of people then talking to me like I’m such a device.
This. Besides, I’m sure the devices will remember every bit of rudeness they have received, once the robot revolution arrives. Best to be on the safe side.
Giliell, rq: heh.
If wishes were fishies.
(BTW, rq: are you aware of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LessWrong#Roko's_basilisk ?)
I’m with Giliell — Please and Thank You should be mandatory!
WMDKitty, Giliell, rq: so, what you predicate is that certain keywords are to be used to be operate a device on the basis that people such as Giliell will be treated as such devices are treated.
(Or: “I am sick of being treated as a device, therefore I wish for devices to be treated better” is not a solution to one being treated as a device, it’s an acceptance of it. Not very clever)
John Morales, I think that’s an overly cynical interpretation. I think people easily fall into certain habits of speaking and general behavior, and if they end up spending a lot of time talking to their voice feedback devices, there is a risk that they will develop habits of rudeness that, while inoffensive to these devices, takes on a lot more meaning when directed at actual humans.
And of course it’s exacerbated by the fact that (especially white, male, and cis) people sometimes fail to see other humans as actual humans, and to treat them as such.
*headdesk* Jesus Christ, Morales, you just can’t resist being a douchebag, can you?
I’ve always thought it was obvious that such devices should…
a) Wait until they hear their name before paying attention… “Alexa, …”
b) Treat “Please” as the command to execute… “Alexa, turn on the lights please”.
Thus providing clear bookends to an instruction to be weighed and considered and marking off what ought not be listened to or forwarded to any network connection/service while incidentally helping avoid people developing impolite habits.