Maybe I'm being too
about this, but a theme in today's Google demo was mechanizing interactions with real people to make one's own life more convenient. Auto-complete entire sentences in email, robot voice calls to small businesses, Google Home training your kid to say please
-
Show this thread
-
This is a popular strategy in Silicon Valley's lifehack-obsessed community (as you could tell from audience applause), but they do not give adequate thought to how sterile a world this is to live in, or that people find automated interactions degrading, for good reason
8 replies 26 retweets 129 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @Pinboard
I'm convinced that many of these systems aren't really about making life more convenient, they're really about avoiding human interaction. I'm not especially social in real life but I've been shocked at how many techies desperately want to avoid talking with people at any cost.
3 replies 13 retweets 29 likes -
Replying to @john_osborn @Pinboard
Efficiency, in general, is a) seen as a universal good thing and b) not always a good thing.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
I chop about 1 onion per day. Economics teaches that I should not do this. Either an onion chopping machine that serves a city, or a full-time onion chopping staffer could perform this task far more efficiently. This leads to stuff like Blue Apron, and also to less silly examples
2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
Economics teaches a lot of foolishness.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.