A fascinating article in The New Yorker this week — not online — about programming computers to converse. The article begins by discussing interactive-voice-response systems — the automated “service” you get when you call a large company.
You know these systems monitor the calls. Did you know they still monitor you when you are on hold?
Interesting too that one of the programming difficulties for these systems was all the ways people say yes or no. It was particularly a problem for southerners. They tend say “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir” depending on the gender of the voice of the system, and the ma’am or sir threw off the computer
I actually first learned this a year or two ago on an episode of Monk. I can only imagine some of the bizarre and revealing conversations they are privy to when people think no one is listening. In fact, I sometimes actually address them with my complaints, especially about being on hold for so long, or their inefficient, frustrating system that won’t give me an option I actually need.