Comments
afwriter
4/12/2016 10:24:42 PM
User Rank Platinum
Do people really want this?
I am usually all for new tech - and maybe my age is just beginning to show - but do people really want this kind of technology?
JohnBarnes
4/13/2016 7:43:30 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Do people really want this?
It's a geek-paradise idea. Reduced contact with human beings, training humans to think more like machines and be more predictable, and most importantly, further reducing the overall number of jobs (while creating self-perpetuating jobs for a small minority of people willing to spend much of their lives memorizing esoterica).
It will be extremely easy to buy flowers without interacting with any people at all. Next up: Bots that other bots can buy flowers for, because hardly any people will have either jobs or friends.
elizabethv
4/13/2016 7:48:52 AM
User Rank Platinum
Forced Popularity
My biggest concern is if this will become popular much in the way I'd imagine Messenger became popular. To me, the usage was really pretty forced, and I'm still not super happy about the situation. If you wanted to use Facebook's Messaging on your phone, you had no choice but to use Messenger. And let's be honest, the average user of Facebook, is using Facebook on their phone. And if you're using Facebook, you're probably sending messeges on Facebook too. So maybe Messenger is the second most popular app, but why? Because most people had very little choice in the matter. So I suppose it only makes sense, force people on to a platform and then entice them with possibilities like chatbot to order flowers if they want - no doubt tied to wanting to wish people a happy birthday - then make that platform popular too. Realistically, it's business genius. As a consumer, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I want to do. Will it stop me from using Facebook? Probably not. They have us right where they want us really.
JohnBarnes
4/13/2016 8:09:45 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Forced Popularity
Way back in 1975, in The Shockwave Rider, John Brunner pointed out that as digital-mediated communication became more prevalent, not being on line would begin to convey a traditional superpower: invisibility. (Vernor Vinge made a similar point a few years later with True Names.)
It turns out that the world is actually better at forcing people to be visible than anyone would have guessed back then, because the cost of such invisibility, i.e. absence from the net, is to have to do everything by such slow and roundabout ways that it's not worth it. So, as you say, we end up in a world almost universally on Facebook because it's such a hassle not to be.
Thus the real fate of nonparticipation ...
Re: Do people really want this?
I'm with you. I don't know that I need it either.
Michelle
4/13/2016 2:16:24 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Do people really want this?
@John bleak outlook -- you might not be far off, but I really hope you are. Automation is great unless THIS.
faryl
4/13/2016 11:22:16 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Do people really want this?
@afwriter The introvert in me always likes opportunities to limit interactions with other humans - but I feel like the existing bots that are already integrated in company websites really fall short on providing any really help.
They always end up being a different way of presenting the company's FAQ or like the automated menu options for phone numbers. It just feels gimicky and unnecessary.
The only benefit I can see from this is for website/business owners and developers who don't know how to integrate the exisiing chat/bot options into their websites, so now have a platform to use to create one. (which doesn't add any value for the customers)
faryl
4/13/2016 11:24:19 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Forced Popularity
@elizabethv I agree. At best, it seems like facebook is trying to create a need that doesn't currently exist.
faryl
4/13/2016 11:27:44 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Do people really want this?
@JohnBarnes The human-adverse among us already can order flowers without any human interaction - 1800Flowers has a website that can be used to select flowers and place orders.
I'm not convinced a bot is going to make that process any smoother or easier.
Maybe that's the point though? Create technology that is increasingly more annoying so that users will ultimately decide they'd rather talk to a human being...
elizabethv
4/14/2016 8:07:40 AM
User Rank Platinum
Being invisible offline
You're right, being offline does come at a cost. My future sister-in-law is staunchly opposed to social media. So much so that my brother is not able to have a social media account either. This means he rarely sees videos of my kids, because any time I make a video on my phone, it is always too large to send anywhere other than Facebook. When we put my dog to sleep last month, I made a tribute video for him, and my brother still hasn't seen it. Anymore, most parties that happen, the invites are sent out on Facebook. Nonetheless, my future sister-in-law doesn't even want her impending marriage posted about on social media. For reasons I can't even begin to understand. Because I love social media. I love being able to keep in touch with people from my past, knowing they are okay, their kids are okay. I suppose that sort of openness isn't for everyone. But there are certainly things you miss by opting out.
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