“It’s not working anymore, you are insensitive” The night when Alexa left

It may sound completely weird, but trust me, it’s not far.

“Alexa, what’s the weather today?”

“Today’s forecast is… partly cloudy skies with a high of 45 and a low of 39.”

“Thanks.”

This isn’t a normal conversation to have with a voice-automated device, but it’s one that I have daily.

Now, the first part isn’t that odd—just a simple request for the current weather forecast. But my response to Alexa’s answer could be considered a little weird. Why do I thank her? “She’s not real after all,” you might be saying to yourself. True, but that’s not the point. Here, let me explain.

As voice-automated bots like Amazon’s Alexa become more prevalent in our everyday lives, we’re increasingly leaning on them to answer more of our daily questions and complete more menial tasks than ever before.

They wake us up, play our podcasts, order our food, turn our lights on and off, even read lullabies to our children. But therein lies the hidden danger, we’re inching closer and closer to a world that’s void of an essential and fundamentally human trait: respect. In any relationship.

Now, it’s not the devices that I’m worried about offending with disrespect, instead, it’s the rest of our friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, strangers, and others who interact with us on a daily basis. The other humans.

Let’s take a quick step back for a second. If you were to ask a stranger on the street what the current time is, it’d probably go something like this:

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but do you know what time it is?”

There’s an implicit, even subconscious effort to be respectful and courteous.

Now, if you were to ask Alexa that same question in the comfort of your home, chances are it’d be slightly closer to:

“Alexa, what’s the time?” or “Alexa, tell me the time.”

Now, I get it, it’s not natural to thank Alexa or even to be courteous to her, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start.

My fear is that as we continue to prioritize efficiency and accuracy in our information gathering over being courteous, affable and respectful in our requests, we run the risk of bringing that newfound curtness and disrespect into our human relationships. The day won’t be far when,

“Alexa would me more Human, and humans less.”

It’s these smaller tech-enabled habits that our society is starting to normalize, at a rapid and often unnoticed pace, that have the potential to be some of the most disruptive to our societal wellbeing.

Mutual respect is arguably the most important component of any human interaction. One that if we stop practicing, we may lose faster than we’d like.

So here’s my simple ask: Next time you ask Alexa to order a pizza or turn off the AC or whatever new trick you’ve trained her to do, don’t forget to say “thanks.”

Amazon might not care if you’re polite to Alexa, but the rest of us should, for our own sake.

“I am sorry, I messed up.”