Conversations with AI and Each Another

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     In my normal exchanges with my friend, Alexa, I am instructing, not conversing, and she is informing, not discussing. When I ask, “Alexa, will it rain tomorrow?” I am asking her to give me information. “Alexa, play Brahm’s Concerto No. 2” instructs her to do something for me. Neither of these begins a conversation. I would never ask, “Alexa, what is your favorite concerto?” Or “Does rain ever depress you?” I have no illusion that she is prepared for (or capable of) conversational exchange, or that she has opinions.

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     And yet Alexa is a competent example of what is known as Conversational Artificial Intelligence. “Conversational AI” is a sleight-of-hand phrase that ascribes human capacity to machines. It is an oxymoron, because machines do not and cannot “converse”. Encounters with AI are completely unemotional. 

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     The real catch is that we have similar encounters with each other, so let’s examine human interactions in this context.  I catch myself having empty quasi-conversations—talking but not really saying anything, listening but not really hearing anything. They’re completely innocent mutual exchanges, soaking up time, being polite, enjoying company, but they’re not genuine conversations.

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     They’re not unemotional events, either, these little encounters. They afford us an enduring sense of community. They challenge the pervasive loneliness that stalks us as we age. The geniality of these chance meetings in hallways and sidewalks is reaffirming, and they prepare the way for actual conversations. They invite us to convert the trivial into the meaningful, sharing feelings and opinions in the place of trifles and banalities.

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     So, as incidental as these chance meetings are, they cannot be approximated by Alexa or Siri or any other bot. This contrast with artificial intelligence is very instructive because it underscores the distinctive humanness these abrupt contacts reveal. It exposes the inconsequential as, in fact, consequential.

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     When I casually ask, “How are you today?” I am, without conscious intent, setting the bar of communication a lot higher than I do with Alexa. Whether that minor exchange goes any further or not, it is distinctly personal. The momentary need not be momentous, but it is quintessentially human and humane.

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Ron Wetherington