As tech behemoths and a wave of start-ups double down on virtual assistants that can chat with human beings, writing for AI is becoming a hot job in Silicon Valley. Behind Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are not just software engineers. Increasingly, there are poets, comedians, fiction writers, and other artistic types charged with engineering the personalities for a fast-growing crop of artificial intelligence tools. Unlike the fictional characters they usually develop, who are put through adventures, personal trials and plot twists, most virtual assistants today are designed to perform largely prosaic tasks, such as reading through email, sending meetings reminders or turning off the lights as you shout across the room. But a new crop of virtual assistant start-ups, whose products will soon flood the market, have in mind more ambitious bots that can interact seamlessly with human beings. Because this wave of technology is distinguished by the ability to chat, writers for AI must focus on making the conversation feel natural. Designers for Amazon’s Alexa have built humanizing “hmms” and “ums” into her responses to questions. Apple’s Siri assistant is known for her wry jokes, as well as her ability to beatbox upon request. As in fiction, the AI writers for virtual assistants dream up a life story for their bots, developing an entire backstory. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news.../07/why-poets-are-flocking-to-silicon-valley/
Some of the Siri jokes are witty enough, but I turned her off without listening to even one of them. Too many Google and Microsoft and Apple trying to surreptitiously get demographic data to sell me stuff I don't need. Enough already. Turned Cortana off too. She sees a picture of the Grand Canyon on your desktop, and next thing you know, your spam box is filled with package travel deals to go there. I need quality time and space outside of the marketing and demographic surveillance space bubble.
