A Psychologist's Perspective On Siri

Siri

So far, this week's best tongue-in-cheek story belongs to Mercury News journalist Patrick May. He interviewed Bay Area psychologist Francine Toder, who recently explored Siri's often Sphinx-like approach to questions routine or unusual.

The shrink admirably dodged and weaved with the enigmatic, sometimes quite humorous voice of Apple's iPhone. What "human" truth emerged from this journey into a machine's mind? The psychologist observed that Siri was not quite ready to "open up." Would there be another session to encourage Siri to understand its own consciousness? "When someone comes in for therapy," Toder noted, "they have to want to change. I'm not sensing that Siri has any real desire at all to do that right now."

Siri and Phone Etiquette

Siri

Today's siliconvalley.com includes a story discussing phone etiquette and the use of virtual assistants. It's a good, brief story that touches on an everyday event for many people.

The story notes that many iPhone users use their Siri virtual assistant in public places. This behavior often becomes distracting, rude, and downright silly. I know, because I have shamelessly spoken with Siri in places and ways I would not do with a human being.

My excuse was that I wanted to leverage Siri's capabilities as a useful work tool. To that end, I entered appointments, searched for information, sent messages, more or less with little regard for what people nearby could hear.  After awhile, I got a bit self-conscious about the "conversation's" disruptive aspect. Now, Siri waits until I can escape into a non-public area.

The siliconvalley.com story notes that the "etiquette" for virtual assistant communication, in contrast with cellphone conversations between two real live people, has not yet been established. In the meantime, we'll have to somehow manage to pretend talking to a machine is as natural as talking into a mirror. As an assistant professor of journalism and communication noted in the siliconvalley.com article, "'It's not normal human behavior to have people having a conversation with a phone on the street.'"