We all know that voice assistants such as Siri, Google Now, and Cortana are all artificial intelligence, although they have been designed in such a way that would make them seem almost human, so much so that an autistic 13-year old boy has considered Apple’s Siri to be his best friend.
This interesting and touching friendship was written by Judith Newman for The New York Times where she describes her 13-year old son’s friendship with Siri. In her story, she points out that on an intellectual level, her son knows that Siri isn’t human, but due to his autistic nature, he has somehow formed a bond with the virtual assistant.
“It’s not that Gus doesn’t understand Siri’s not human. He does — intellectually. But like many autistic people I know, Gus feels that inanimate objects, while maybe not possessing souls, are worthy of our consideration.” Newman goes on to state that Siri’s polite nature in some ways complemented her son’s behavior at times.
“Siri’s responses are not entirely predictable, but they are predictably kind — even when Gus is brusque. I heard him talking to Siri about music, and Siri offered some suggestions. “I don’t like that kind of music,” Gus snapped. Siri replied, “You’re certainly entitled to your opinion.” Siri’s politeness reminded Gus what he owed Siri. “Thank you for that music, though,” Gus said. Siri replied, “You don’t need to thank me.” “Oh, yes,” Gus added emphatically, “I do.”
This is definitely not what Apple had designed Siri to be used for, but we’ll admit that it is pretty touching and is especially telling in how technology affects our lives, sometimes in unexpected ways. So what do you guys think? Do you have any touching stories you have about technology?
[Image credit – Louie Chin]
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