Bot or Not Bot - What do you think?

Hi Michael,

>But the existential
> question of course, is to you does it make a difference and even more
> interesting does it make a difference to who or what is at the other
end and
> if so what sort of a difference.

I think if people are generally satisfied that their needs are dealt
with, 'with or without' a bot then they are perhaps not necessarily too
concerned. It's when they are caught in a kind of bot loop, and
essential questions are pushing them to waste time chasing others to
sort out the initial problem, then frustration occurs...

But, Bots are also getting to be quite an issue in other areas of life.
In a recent Huffington post article called "Ban 'Killer Robots' Before
It's Too Late", which refers to the 50-page report, ?Losing Humanity:
The Case Against Killer Robots,? it outlines "concerns about these fully
autonomous weapons, which would inherently lack human qualities that
provide legal and non-legal checks on the killing of civilians."
http://t.co/TRg57oUL

It weakens possible outcomes to hold anyone responsible or rather
"accountable for harm caused by the weapons".

So, Bots across the board could be seen as an effective tactic for
deterrence and distractions, from possible events of accountability if
causing damage or violation to humans, or at least muddying the already
murky waters of corporate responsibility.

Wishing you well.

marc

> Hi,
>
> Probably a bot, but I`ve had quite similar telephone conversations with
> evidently human folks with more or less the same result reading from the
> same Service Centre consultant derived script... But the existential
> question of course, is to you does it make a difference and even more
> interesting does it make a difference to who or what is at the other
end and
> if so what sort of a difference.
>
> M
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: netbehaviour-bounces at netbehaviour.org
> [mailto:netbehaviour-bounces at netbehaviour.org] On Behalf Of marc
> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 9:13 AM
> To: NetBehaviour for networked distributed creativity
> Subject: [NetBehaviour] Bot or Not Bot - What do you think?
>
> Bot or Not Bot - What do you think?
>
> OK - I have just copied this from Facebook - it's interesting in view
of how
> things are changing due to bots being placed where once we had
conversations
> with humans.
>
> Have a read and see if you can tell if it's a bot talking to Sue Thomas.
>
> -------------------------------
>
>
> So I ordered a vacuum cleaner from Amazon and got an email saying its ETA
> was today. But when it hadn't arrived by mid-afternoon, I checked out the
> Yodel delivery site to see whether there is a latest time for their
> deliveries, since I need to go to the shop. This is the conversation
I had
> in the Yodel live help chatroom:
>
> Christy: 15:57:28 Hi Sue, my name is Christy from Yodel. How can I help?
>
> sue: 16:01:15 ah sorry
> 16:01:35 i am waiting for a delivery which is currently at the
regional srt
> centre
> 16:01:56 my questio is - when is the latest it might be delivered? i
need to
> go out.
> 16:03:02 the reference is xxxx
>
> Christy: 16:05:57 I'm just checking the system for you now, one moment
> please.
>
> sue: 16:06:15 thanks
>
> Christy: 16:10:15 Your item is estimated to be deliverd on the 20/11
> 16:10:37 You need to get intouch with the sender of this parcel ...Amazon
>
> sue: 16:10:42 that's yesterday!
>
> Christy: 16:11:06 Your item is not out for delivery today.
>
> sue: 16:11:09 but your website tells me it is In transit to local service
> centre
>
> Christy: 16:11:25 Your delivery contract is with Amazon and they'll
be able
> to help you with the next steps.
>
> sue: 16:12:00 but ok, if not today that's fine, I can go out. Thanks!
> But how can what you say be right when your website tells me you have it?
> 16:14:52 are you still there?
>
> Christy: 16:15:23 You need to contact Amazon as soon as possible Sue.
>
> sue: 16:16:22 But I don't understand why, since it has been received
at your
> regional sort centre - please can you explain?
>
> Christy: 16:17:48 Sue you need to contact the sender please.
> 16:17:54 Is there anything else I can help you with?
>
> sue: 16:19:15 Yes, has something happened to my parcel ? Do you have that
> information? Is it not at Yodel's regional sort centre after all?
> It says it arrived at 10.37 today and is in Prime sort, but I don't know
> what that is
> 16:19:42 Description Location Date Time In transit to local service
centre
> Prime sort 21st Nov 2012 10:37
>
> Christy: 16:19:46 Contact the sender for all these information.
>
> sue: 16:19:58 But you are the carrier
>
> Christy: 16:20:25 Yes please.
> 16:20:42 Do you still require assistance?
>
> sue: 16:20:47 okay, I'm going to paste this whole conversation on
Facebook
> because it makes no sense
> 16:21:19 oh wait, are you a bot?
>
> Christy: 16:21:59 Is there anything else I can help you with?
>
> sue: 16:22:37 You are a bot! You passed the Turing Test! I honestly
thought
> you were human at the beginning.
>
> --- At this point I was waiting for the next offer of assistance, and was
> going to tell her that sometimes I experience a deep existential
loneliness
> and could she help me with that. But after a minute or so, the chat room
> disappeared.
>
> So what do you think - was that a bot? Or not? !!
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