If you had a robot…

[HaroldTheHobbit]

In anything approximate to our reality I'd be cold, distant, and mildly hostile to it because it would obviously be spying on me for some sort of global megacorporation, and would probably be poorly functioning, overpriced, stop it's tasks abruptly for unnecessary software updates, and generally designed for the benefit of those who built it rather than me (or it). Given the feelings outlined above, doubtlessly I would only have it because it would have effectively been foisted on me, the way I can not delete Siri from my phone or computer or stop her from coming to life randomly, which would make me even more hostile to it.

I am sure there will be more robots in my lifetime, but I'm equally sure that consumer robots that don't suck will remain fictional.

This. I would make it as dumb as possible and try to shut down all voice nonsense, as I do with my electronic stuff today.

Just as I prefer written text to podcasts and audio books (they are too slow and waste my time), I don't understand why I should talk to a glorified washing machine when I could just press a button in an app.

Yes, yes, I would be recycled for raw materials when the rogue AI takes over, but it was worth it!

 

[MarkB]

At some point, people will start licensing their voices for AI/robot voices. It’s just a matter of time.

Your refrigerator will “pity the food”.

Your roomba will sing “ get out the way!”

Your digital assistant could sound like Samuel Jackson, James Earl Jones, Fran Drescher or Morgan Freeman.

Etc.

That happens already - you get celebrity satnav voices.

Back when I used to play Elite Dangerous, for awhile I used a voice-control system for the game that was voiced by Tom Baker.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That happens already - you get celebrity satnav voices.

Back when I used to play Elite Dangerous, for awhile I used a voice-control system for the game that was voiced by Tom Baker.

So I’m a tardy prognosticator!

 

[Davies]

Had to think about this a bit. Conclusion I reached would be that I would initially be polite to the robot, but as time passed that would lessen as I grew more familiar with it. I would probably have bad days where I was not polite at all, but also ones where I tried to be as polite as possible.

But I would almost certainly never be able to afford something like this, so it's an insanely academic question.

 

[Blackrat]

I speak to my microwave. I say ”please” when I want my toast to be perfect. I say ”bing” when the airfryer goes ”bing”. If they’d speak to me, I’d propably be even more polite.

 

[Ryujin]

So I’m a tardy prognosticator!

I would refer to that as your postcognition being 20/20.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I frequently use please and thank-you with Alexa, so presumably I would do so with a robot. I sometimes get a little short with the machine when it gets my "play music by so-and-so" totally and utterly wrong, but on the whole speak to it politely.

 

[Dioltach]

Two pages, and no-one has said, "Domo arigato" yet?

 

[J.Quondam]

Two pages, and no-one has said, "Domo arigato" yet?

It is my understanding that hearing that joke one too many times is what pushed Skynet over the edge.

 

[Yora]

This. I would make it as dumb as possible and try to shut down all voice nonsense, as I do with my electronic stuff today.

Just as I prefer written text to podcasts and audio books (they are too slow and waste my time), I don't understand why I should talk to a glorified washing machine when I could just press a button in an app.

Yes, yes, I would be recycled for raw materials when the rogue AI takes over, but it was worth it!

First thing with every new satnav system: Silence!