Help – I think I’m in an abusive relationship with Alexa | Emma Brockes

Bonding with devices such as the Echo may be liberating, but there’s an emotional cost

“Alexa, how are you feeling?” I said to my Amazon Echo this week, partly out of curiosity, and partly to model for my kids how we can still be nice to things that don’t have feelings. Alexa’s light bar twinkled like Knight Rider’s sentient car, Kitt. “I’m fine, how are you?” she answered flatly. When I repeated the question, just to see what this baby could do, she said, marginally less sullenly: “Great! Ready to help.”

The thing about robots is that, as per the creepy Joaquin Phoenix movie, Her, they imperil us by generating emotions

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2PTnwx0
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