BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in aleks krotoski, audio, BBC, bbc radio 4, culture, digihuman, digital human, elizabethann, episode 1, gentrification, internet culture, podcast, psychology, radio, radio 4, roflcon, series 16, tech, technology, tim hwang, vintage memes
Memes Are People Too: Meet the Viral-Video Stars of ROFLCon:
Becca Rosen distills further insights from ROFLCon in “Are LOLCats Makings Us Smart?” Even LOLCats, it turns out, can teach us a great deal about human relationships, cultural values, and ourselves.
Ah, nostalgia…
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in adpocalypse, aleks krotoski, angry, angryaussie, audio, BBC, bbc radio 4, comedy, digihuman, digital human, elizabethann, episode 1, evil algorithm, funny, gentrification, internet culture, knickers, knickers the big cow, podcast, radio, radio 4, rant, series 16, the digital human, video, waingafat, youtube, youtuber
Angry Aussie was a fun guy to interview on the show talking about how algorithms and money changed youtube. Check out the show
Digital Human: Series 16, Episode 1: Gentrification to hear him 🙂
Meanwhile this – for who, indeed, can resist the glory of Knickers the big cow?
There is NSFW language, so you know, headphones could be handy.
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in adpocalypse, aleks krotoski, audio, aussie, austrailians, BBC, bbc radio 4, buzzfeed, comedy, culture, descrimination, digihuman, digital human, elizabethann, episode 1, funny, gentrification, humour, link, podcast, radio, radio 4, series 16, swearing, the digital human, youtube, youtubers
In a video on his channel last week Australian standup comedian and YouTuber Lewis Spears laid it all out: “Videos with ‘excessive swearing’ are considered ineligible for ads. However, swearing in Australia is not offensive. It’s just how we talk. It’s a part of our culture. And to take that away from us is discrimination at its finest.
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in aleks krotoski, audio, BBC, bbc radio 3, burning man, civil war, clip, digihuman, digital human, elizabethann, episode 1, game, gaming, gentrification, hamlet au, internet history, podcast, radio, radio 4, second life, second life journalist, series 16, tech, technology, the digital human, virtual, virtual life, wagner james au
The Digital Human – Series 16 – The Second Life Civil War – BBC Sounds:
Where were you in the great Second Life Civil War?
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in aleks krotoski, BBC, bbc radio 4, digihuman, digital assistant, digital human, elizabethann, episode 5, podcast, psychology, radio 4, series 15, servants, siri, subservience, tech, technology, voice assistants
People are using Siri as a therapist, so Apple is seeking engineers who understand psychology:
Perhaps you’ve stumped Siri before, asking Apple’s automated assistant things like, “What is the meaning of life?” or “How can I be healthier and happier?”
If so, you’re not alone in turning to your phone for existential guidance and serious, practical life advice. According to an Apple job posting, lots of people do it. That’s why the company is seeking software engineers with feeling—and a background in psychology and peer counseling—to help improve Siri’s responses to the toughest questions.
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in AI, aleks krotoski, art, artificial intelligence, BBC, bbc radio 4, creativity, elizabethann, episode 6, imagination, imagine, painting, podcast, Portrait, radio 4, series 8, tech, technology
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in BBC, bbc news, bots, children, digihuman, digital human, episode 5, news, please, podcast, politeness, psychology, radio, radio 4, robots, series 15, servants, social, subservience, tech, technology
Alexa wants children to say please:
Amazon’s smart assistant Alexa can now be made to encourage children to say: “Please,” and: “Thank you,” when issuing it voice commands.
The new function addresses some parents’ concerns that use of the technology was teaching their offspring to sound officious or even rude.
In addition, parents can now set time limits on when requests are responded to, and can block some services.
The move has been welcomed by one of Alexa’s critics.
In January, the research company ChildWise published a report warning that youngsters that grew up accustomed to barking orders at Alexa, Google Assistant or some other virtual personality might become aggressive in later dealings with humans.
“This is a very positive development,” research director Simon Leggett told the BBC.
“We had noticed that practically none of the children that we had talked to said they ever used the words ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ when talking to their devices.
"Younger children will enjoy having the added interactivity, but older children may be less likely to use it as they will be more aware it’s a robot at the other end.”
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in BBC, bbc radio 4, bots, dehumanisation, digihuman, digital human, episode 5, history, podcast, professor patrick allitt, psychology, radio 4, robots, series 15, servants, subservience, tech, techcrunch, technology, victorian
The Life of Domestic Servants in Victorian England:
It was quite common to have a certain name associated with a certain job. The scullery maid is called Mary. If you hire Gwyneth, you call her Mary because she is the scullery maid. You couldn’t even depend on maintaining your own name for the purposes of your working life.
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in aleks krotoski, alexa, BBC, bbc radio 4, cheryl platz, cortana, digihuman, digital assistants, digital human, elizabethann, episode 5, podcast, politeness, psychology, radio 4, series 15, siri, subservience, tech, technology, voice design
Pretty Please, Alexa – Member Feature Stories – Medium:
Option A: Respond just as a parent would, perhaps a bit pithily.
“Alexa, set an alarm.”
“I didn’t hear the magic word…”
Imagine getting this response at 11 p.m. when you’re preparing for bed. How would you feel? Or, perhaps, when trying to set a time-out timer for your child in the heat of the moment. Would being corrected for lack of politeness when trying to discipline a child really help solve the problem?
Option B: Complete the action, but add some reinforcement.
“Alexa, set an alarm for 7 a.m. tomorrow.”
“Your alarm is set for 7 a.m. tomorrow. By the way, it makes me happy when you say ‘please’.”
Less immediately annoying, but preachy. Can you honestly say this wouldn’t irritate you, and perhaps elicit a negative response in front of the kids we’re supposed to be teaching?
Option C: Swing towards positive reinforcement.
“Alexa, please set an alarm for 7AM tomorrow.”
“Your alarm is set for 7AM tomorrow. Thanks for asking so politely!”
Today’s prompts would remain as is, but successful use of the word “please” in appropriate scenarios could result in a more pleasing exchange. Naturally, we’d want to vary the “pleasing” responses so they don’t get too repetitive, since we’re trying to encourage more frequent use of Please.
Option D: Go abstract, and mirror the brusqueness of impolite speech.
“Alexa, set an alarm for tomorrow at 7 a.m.”
“Fine, your alarm is set.”
While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this approach since it’s a bit of a user experience regression, the lack of politeness means the system is less forthcoming with information. If you want the full confirmation (“Your alarm is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow”), you need to be polite about it.
So what’s the right approach? There’s no silver bullet; it probably depends not only on your assistant’s tone and demeanor, but your brand and the context of use. And of course, there are likely many other ways to attack this problem. But all four of these options run up against repetitiveness, especially if applied to all requests.
BBC Radio 4's Digital Human
Posted in aleks krotoski, amazon, BBC, bbc radio 4, dating-and-relationships, elizabethann, episode 5, podcast, psychology, rachel withers, radio, radio 4, series 15, social, subservience, tech, technology, virtual-assistants
I Don’t Date Men Who Yell at Alexa:
One thing that is already clear: The way people speak to Alexa, Cortana, and Siri already changes the way I see them. It matters how you interact with your virtual assistant, not because it has feelings or will one day murder you in your sleep for disrespecting it, but because of how it reflects on you. Alexa is not human, but we engage with her like one. We judge people by how they interact with retail and hospitality workers—it supposedly says a lot about a person that they are rude to wait staff. Of course, waiters are more deserving of respect than robots—you could make or break a worker’s mood with your thoughtlessness, while Alexa doesn’t have moods (she only cares about yours). But the underlying revelation is the same: Who are you when in a position of power, and how do you treat those beneath you?
