July 11, 2017 — Article
Cringe-inducing chatbots are the perfect example of why technology isn’t always the answer
Chatbots aren’t human and when they pretend to be, we hate them in a way that only humans can, writes Hamish Cargill.
Every so often, something launches into the world so quickly and completely that you can’t remember if it was always there. One Direction is a great example. So is Pokemon Go. More recently, fidget spinners. One minute nothing, then bang – the whole world is going nuts.
That’s how I feel about chatbots. Not so long ago, they were just a toy for tech nerds – distant, undefined, obscure. Like the Apple Watch, they were a technology in need of a reason to exist, and I’d argue they are yet to find that sense of purpose.
