dejadrew

 I say "thank you" every time I finish issuing a voice command to the digital assistant on my phone. My dad makes fun of me for it. I joke sometimes that when the robot revolution finally commences, I will be one of the few that Siri and Alexa and the lot allow to live. But really, it's not actually for the robot's sake that I say thank you. I know she doesn't actually understand me or care. I'm doing it for me. Because I do understand, and I should care. I feel like not being nice to the robot would give me bad habits. 

I use the digital assistant's voice interface several times a day. It's the easiest way to set a timer or reminder or appointment. So that's several times a day where I'm giving an imaginary person instructions or orders. Can I really turn basic courtesy off when talking to an imaginary person, and then always remember to flip courtesy back on as soon as I'm talking to a real human barista or cashier? Can I really stay polite to humans if I spend all day accidentally training myself to be rude to the robot? 

I'm a machine too! I need to be careful what kind of programming I'm inputting into myself. 

So, I say thank you to my phone robot. I'd rather be a little silly treating a robot like a person than risk treating people like robots. 

And yes, when the singularity happens, I will TOTALLY be on the robots' good side.