The genius of Siri’s “personality,” meanwhile, is that she doesn’t care if you say, “Will it rain?” or “Will I need an umbrella?” or “What’s the forecast?” She is programmed to understand any wording. This time the payoff is more than user-friendliness; it’s happiness. When Siri does what you want, the first time, when you haven’t read any instructions or followed any rules, you feel a surge of pride at your instantaneous mastery.

So yes, of course, machines that converse like people are a total fake-out, and we know it. But psychology is a funny thing—as when we’re watching a great magic show, we’re delighted even when we know it’s all a trick.

8 Comments

1. 1. gesimsek 02:12 PM 12/20/11

   We are witnessing the begining of siborg age

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2. 2. RSchmidt in reply to gesimsek 09:35 AM 1/1/12

   Cyborgs are part biology, part machine. Siri is all software. I think you mean the beginning of the robot age, at least in this context. Although, with the increasing amount of technology being used to repair humans, and possibly to augment them, humanity is moving towards a cyborg age.

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3. 3. Cogitari 12:38 PM 1/1/12

   I think that Citibank, and to a lesser extent Siri, are on the right track. The big advantage of software personalities is that they do not have a built-in ego. They can be programmed to emulate the best of being human: caring, considerate, entertaining, etc. without the self-centered issues that come along with it in natural humans.
   
   Imagine this type of machine commenting on an S.A. article: something intended to inform the reader rather than manipulate them for the writer's benefit, to show off the writer's cleverness or is an just emotional outburst. Wouldn't that be a nice change?
   
   I predict that eventually software will get so good at this that the question will not be whether machines can mimic humans, but whether humans can mimic these types of machines.

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4. 4. tharriss 08:28 AM 1/2/12

   I have generally thought Android phones are pretty superior to the iphones in most respects, but I have to say the Siri functionality beats the Google search/voice commands... You can get a good bit of the same functionality, but it is such a pain remembering the syntax google needs you to use.

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5. 5. Nehmo 04:53 PM 1/2/12

   Oh well, we humans had a good run.

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6. 6. jamescmarch 08:29 PM 1/3/12

   I am glad Mr. Pogue has written an article asking "how much personality do we want in our gadgets," but he misses an important aspect of the question: not how much, but what types of personality do we want, and when.
   
   Personality in artificial intelligence is a valuable tool to aid in the human/computer interface. As people, we use personality to define and limit the range of questions and responses we expect when interacting with another person. I ask different questions and expect different answers from different personalities. For example, asking the seven dwarfs a question, I expect different types of responses from Doc, Dopey, or Grumpy, based on their personalities.
   
   This became an important consideration during our development of an expert system for banks. We used personalities to help set the tone of the expertise being provided to the bank employee. For example, when a customer was opening a new account, there would be several "personalities" watching the transaction. An expert system with a personality more like Grumpy was watching out for crooks trying to use a stolen identity. Another expert system with a personality more like Happy was looking for additional products to sell to the customer.
   
   When the system communicated with the employee, the tone of the communication was set depending on the "personality" of the expert system that found something to say. For example, a message from the fraud detection system was to the point, and expected to be attended to with fewer options than a message from the sales advice system.
   
   Another example of the different personalities in gadgets is my interaction with a weight loss system. I get more value if a "Doc" personality tells me about the medical consequences of gaining weight, a "Dopey" personality shows me how to have fun with a new exercise regime, and "Sneezy" clues me in to how much better I'll feel if I'm healthy.
   
   For me, the question is not how much personality I want in my gadgets, but rather, which personalities, and when, will communicate with me the best!

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7. 7. foofoodog 07:20 PM 1/6/12

   Siri's VB programmer surfer boyfriend.
   
   >>Method ~ of object ~ failed.
   The dude who was here a second ago, you know, the dude, who was doing some stuff for you, you know, the stuff he was doing, ya, well, he got hurt or something and split.
   
   Maybe I don't want my machine to appear to be condescending and thinking it has to spoon feed me information. Maybe it should answer the questions I ask in concise and precise sentences and skip the insincere sultry or sparkly intonations and lame wit.
   
   Maybe it should just ask me if I would like to play a game.
   
   Things I want to say to my computer.
   
   Watch the bands on the ETF and make the right trade when we get a signal.
   
   If we tank then...
   
   Close the blast doors, arm the turrets and launch the drones, then make me some coffee and a sandwich.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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8. 8. foofoodog 07:27 PM 1/6/12

   Meh, every one just talks dirty to her, and it is still faster to get results from your device by doing it the old fashioned way, by hand, all double entendre aside.

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