Smart Compose Reply

[zetreque]

Ok time for another rant complaint.

Google, Microsoft and several other companies are implementing these auto response options for emails and messengers. IMO it is making people even more brainless.
Have we stooped to a level in society where people aren't capable of even typing to 1 to 2 word responses to other people? Do people not have enough time in the world to even type out a single word response over an already unemotional digital platform?
Computers are taking over every level of thinking for people.
I can't imagine a future where people need to be reminded what to say replying with things like "I Understand" "Sounds Good".

[SciameriKen]

Thanks sounds good

[zetreque]

Thanks sounds good

[TheVat]

Based on my experience with auto-correct I'd say we're all domed. If people want to add that kind of automation, it's their funfair.

[zetreque]

Based on my experience with auto-correct I'd say we're all domed. If people want to add that kind of automation, it's their funfair.

I just logged into gmail to write an email and it was trying to write it for me, I had to turn off this auto write feature.

So not only do we have the auto response but also the auto write.

Called "Smart compose" and "smart reply"

which are ironic.

[zetreque]

Based on my experience with auto-correct I'd say we're all domed. If people want to add that kind of automation, it's their funfair.

I just logged into gmail to write an email and it was trying to write it for me, I had to turn off this auto write feature.

So not only do we have the auto response but also the auto write.

Called "Smart compose" and "smart reply"

which are ironic.

Forget the threat of turning the Earth into a monoculture, or monocrops, now we are going to be monowriters/thinkers. When the same logarithms are picked up by all the main social media teaching everyone to talk/write the same. I'm sorry, but I like to have my own thoughts.

[wolfhnd]

There is one of these features I think is useful and that is auto acknowledgement of an email being opened. A lot of times you are not necessarily looking for a response but would like to know if someone read your email. Responses can be clutter. Text messages are similar in that you may be having a conversation with someone and a phone call is more disruptive than a text but it is still nice for the sender to know when the message is read.

Of course you need to shut off yourself from all these devices on a fairly regular basis. If someone doesn't respond immediately to a text that should not be considered poor etiquette.

The auto spell and auto syntax functions do the job secretaries did in the past. I actually remember relying on them to catch embarrassing mistakes. I think the bigger problem is how casual and poorly considered communication has become. It's fine that people are not taking the time to spell check but isn't ok that they are not carefully considering what they have to say. If you are saying something in an email or text you wouldn't say in person you need to think twice.

The Greeks supposedly complained that writing was ruining language and memory. I don't know if that is true but it is a nice story that think is relevant. Technology is disruptive but the alternatives are worse.

I guess I'm saying that a whole new set of manners are required in an age of instant communication.

I'm in agreement that over reliance on AI is unhealthy as it definitely will diminish intellectual rigor and development. It is analogous to flabby bodies because people drive instead of walking. We are crazy apes who undervalued discipline but Sparta was probably a horrible place to live.

[zetreque]

I like the thumbs up feature for the same thing as acknowledgement of reading a message or email. I think the thumbs up feature is perhaps too positive though (one sided without a negative option) and it would be nice to have just a neutral acknowledgement of receipt. To protect privacy however it should be the receivers choice to acknowledge receipt. Unless it was sent certified courier :)

Another thing I don't like about this smart compose stuff is I also want to know when I am talking to someone else that thinks for themselves and not relying on technology to do it or help them. It's almost like cheating on a test. College English professors don't let you use spell and grammar check. In the real world it's faking/cheating who you are. Might be more transparent if every correction an AI made was labeled but that would clutter things up. Then when you are talking to someone where the AI speaks for them you can be like "wow, either this person is a total numbskull, doesn't have a mind of their own or English isn't their first language, maybe I should talk to someone else that knows what they are talking about." hehe
This would more quickly help you in the digital realm of job recruiting and friend making.

I haven't made up my mind that I am entirely against the smart compose/reply technology but I find it very concerning and something that needs to be discussed. Companies like Google and Microsoft make these small decisions that have far reaching consequences without any democracy or public awareness. Corporations are too powerful in the world today for exactly these reasons.

[wolfhnd]

AI mind control is certainly a worry. As companies like Google build extensive databases of our habits a more sophisticated AI could easily start to predict our thoughts. Once you know what someone is thinking it's much easier to alter it.

[zetreque]

AI mind control is certainly a worry. As companies like Google build extensive databases of our habits a more sophisticated AI could easily start to predict our thoughts. Once you know what someone is thinking it's much easier to alter it.

Well I find it creepy that it's actively running everything I type through their AI. I never agreed to that.

[wolfhnd]

AI mind control is certainly a worry. As companies like Google build extensive databases of our habits a more sophisticated AI could easily start to predict our thoughts. Once you know what someone is thinking it's much easier to alter it.

Well I find it creepy that it's actively running everything I type through their AI. I never agreed to that.

I agree it's creepy.

We will now get feed ads that feature the creepy :-)

[TheVat]

I used to get targeted ads offering me Ukrainian women to marry. They finally gave up on me (did they figure out I was already married to an American hottie?). Anyway, dosvidanya, all you raven-haired beauties, and I will always miss that solyanka you never made for me.

[wolfhnd]

I used to get targeted ads offering me Ukrainian women to marry. They finally gave up on me (did they figure out I was already married to an American hottie?). Anyway, dosvidanya, all you raven-haired beauties, and I will always miss that solyanka you never made for me.

I heard that they determine when a women is pregnant before she knows, probably a urban myth but it certainly points to how creepy it feels.