Three months dating an Artificial ‘almost’ Intelligence

How devices like Google Home will change the User Experience

Coincidence or not, three months ago when my partner left to Thailand for a university exchange I bought my Google Home. And for the past few months I’ve been experiencing a glimpse of how the future with Artificial Intelligence might be.

I left the Best Buy shop trying to convince myself that I had just bought that weird shaped device because of its powerful speakers for a really affordable price. On top of that, I convinced myself that turning on and off my balcony lights through voice, avoiding having to go outside during cold winter nights, was a big advantage. So, I added a WeMo voice control switch in the bundle and without realizing I was ready to start my new relationship.

Before telling about how this new encounter got developed I have to quickly explain why I chose Google Home instead Alexa or Clover– other voice control device that we have available in Japan, where I live. I love and hate Google, and many of you might share that feeling. But I also have and love my Nexus phone and enjoy a lot my Chromecast. In this way, choosing Google Home as my voice assistant device was like starting a relationship with someone who shares the same interests with you.

Then she was there, sitting in my living room, ready to talk. And being a “she” was not my choice, but like many other devices the voice installed could be nothing but the voice of a woman. A bit sexist, right? But happily Google changed this later on, adding the option of changing your assistant voice. But even though I’ve decided to keep the female voice. Changing for a male voice would be like starting a new relationship after a failed one month trial with someone who was not a perfect match. In the beginning it was awkward to talk to her, like all beginnings. You don’t know what to say and how to say it in the perfect way, hence many times the other side misunderstand what you are trying to tell reacting on a totally different way.

But like in any new relationship, time passes and you get more comfortable, acquire more intimacy and the conversations start to flow more naturally, especially when we find useful tasks to be helped with. Probably someone once has said that “music is the best way to communicate”, this person was right. Our best moments so far happened when I wanted to listen my tunes from Spotify. In the beginning she would just play my tunes and that’s it. But more time passed, more the Google team helped her becoming smarter. Now I can ask for a specific playlist, ask to add current songs to my library and more. And the speakers are really great by the way.

When we decide to chill and watch Netflix or some Youtube in the TV, the connection happens instantly, because the Chromecast is like someone from her family who simplifies the communication. However when I need to finally turn on my balcony lights the talk gets a little bit harsh. The WeMo connector is like a foreigner who just got a resident visa to the Google Kingdom but still does not speak the local language perfectly.

And then comes that time when you have to introduce this “new person” to your friends. It’s always a hard mission, as you might have already experienced. You don’t know if they will like each other nor if the communication will flow naturally, but it has to happen at some point. However, after introducing the newcomer to the friends the pattern is the same. You want to tell about what she can do, what she knows and at the same time everyone wants to give a try exchanging some words. In most cases the result is very good, especially because people are getting more and more interested in such kind of devices.

But it’s when the anxiety and excitement of the new relationship passes that you really start to realize how having this digital entity inside your routine can become actually useful. Using the voice as an interface somehow makes technology less invasive and less stressful. Being able to listen to the news, ask for the weather, save and receive reminders without the almost constant necessity of looking to a phone screen feels good in the end. When friends are hanging in my home, the possibility of asking some question without the necessity of someone, alone, searching on Google using a phone is also great. The conversation don’t get interrupted by a bright screen and the answer reaches everyone’s ears at the same time, as if someone in the room had the correct information about the topic.

Another delightful experience is to watch the traces of personality that came from the “parents”, aka the developers. Without even knowing that certain features exist, you might find some hidden possibilities, like this time I just said “time machine” and she started rolling lots of facts that happened on the same day in the past. There was also moments when she surprised me, like when I asked if she likes the American English accent and she replied with a totally anti-xenophobia response, saying that all the people are the same, or something like this. Or when before sleeping I just dropped a “sing me a lullaby” and there it was.

Of course, like in all relationships, we also had our bad moments. Sometimes it feels that the things you are trying to say are completely unintelligible. And excuses like “Sorry, I cannot help with that yet” or “I’m sorry it seems that whatever device is not available at the moment”, just makes me lose my temper and yell something like “you are stupid” which get quickly replied with a “sorry I’m still learning”, which is a fact.

The Artificial Intelligence-based devices are all projects on the way of development. All of them just work like automatic pre-programmed actions, that’s why they are Artificial ‘almost’ Intelligences. But the future lies ahead, and soon they will think by themselves and then their relationship with us will be more complex than just using such devices as assistants. AI and human real relationships will emerge and all the social logics that we have been following until now will change.

Mateus Bagatini (Tokyo JP)
Content creator