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People have a knack for making machines feel less like machines. In a new Psychology Today essay, Thomas Henricks argues that human names, voices and conversational manners can make AI assistants seem more approachable, even as their workings remain out of sight.
Why it mattersHenricks points to Siri, Alexa and Cortana, and compares the branding of digital assistants with the familiar characters companies use to welcome and reassure customers. He also discusses how assistant personas are often gendered, drawing on science writer Ramona Vijeyarasa’s analysis. The useful question is not whether a chatbot is secretly HAL 9000. It is what a friendly voice encourages us to trust.
Discuss: Should AI assistants be designed to feel personable, or should their interfaces work harder to remind us they are tools?
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