I AM A HUMAN !!!

 

I AM A HUMAN !!!!!

 

Not so many years ago, if you called someone on the telephone you could reasonably expect that the person answering on the other end was actually alive.

Today, not so much any longer.

The rise of automation and artificial intelligence has changed our lives in such a way that you never know who or what you are really talking to or connecting with.

The problem starts when you call a number, and their answering system starts out with the various departments in their organization. None of which can handle the type of concern you are calling about. Of course, it would be too simple to just say the operator can be accessed by pressing “O”. that would be too simple and inefficient. I really am in love with those calls which tell you that “faster service can be obtained by logging into their website”. No way, Jose is that going to happen. I have spent hours on websites clicking various buttons in the forlorn hopes of finding a real person who can answer my questions. Their chat lines tie you up for hours on end and we all love the notation that says… ‘We will be with you in a moment, you are caller number 47’.

Now, when you go to various websites for advice on some issue or another, you get their lovely ‘virtual’ assistant. Virtual means ‘not real’ as in it’s actually a made-up entity of some sort. So, you aren’t talking or trying to talk to a human but a machine of some kind. I usually lose my patience with these bots after the fourth or fifth question that is totally unrelated to my inquiry. I have found that by saying ‘enchilada’ over and over it will usually bring me to a real person. Of course, then you have to start asking your questions all over again.

Another annoying practice of today is the ‘verify that you are a human’ authorization section. We are not given the option of talking or conversing with a real, live oxygen breathing human being, but they want to verify that we are actually alive. Seems somewhat unfair to me.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like an idiot after I find out that I have been speaking or writing to some robot for the last ten minutes.

The future doesn’t look too bright in view of the expansion of artificial intelligence, does it? None of us know who we can trust. The news can be faked, photos can be faked, documents can certainly be faked. Research can be changed. I have heard that AI can even duplicate voices and make calls sounding like your spouse or children. Of course, you can use this to your advantage if one of your kids or friends calls up and asks for money. You don’t send any and when they ask why in a few days or so, you can just say I thought you had been hacked and the call was a fraud.

My advice? Trust no one or anything.

Except me, I am a human. You can trust me.

See you next week…Peary Perry