I agree with the people who say “Don’t get mad, ask yourself ‘Why?’”
So I’m asking myself: Why do I hate the new robot at the other end of the Walmart pharmacy line SO MUCH?? Now, instead of just punching in a few numbers to refill prescriptions – which it’s my weekly task to do – I have to engage in social relations with this robot. I have to TALK.
“No” I’m not a doctor’s office.
“Refill my prescription” instead of entering “2”.
Why does this change drive me to murderous rage?
You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. I have dark fantasies about robot destruction, and I keep working on ways to disable the robot voice and just get back to the number system. So far, they have worked only about 50%.
I do not want to talk to the robot.
I especially do not want to be FORCED to talk to the robot.
Assuming we could still get our prescriptions refilled, I would revel in ruining that robot.
Why is that?
Image: “Trashed robot,” The Magic Tuba Pixie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Matters of Interpretation 
5 responses to “Robot rage, or Why???”
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Sigh ….. I have no problems with the Robot at Walmart.
I am an Engineer, hence I know where their off switch is !
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I am fortunate not to be dealing with such a robot for my Rx, but I think, it would anger me, too. Conversation is an animal thing. We don’t merely rely on words, powerful as they are, we also rely on tones of voice, facial expressions, body language and overall vibes. Machines can approximate vocal communication—sometimes pretty well—but there’s always something missing. I think deep down we feel mocked. I know I feel a certain antipathy from the GPS voice in my car. On the other hand, I have developed a kind of bro bond with Siri since I switched it/her to the African-descent male voice. And therein may lie another source of our suspicion. We know that whatever pleasantness we may hear in their voices was programmed into them, and we don’t like or trust fake emotions even in a human. We are intuitively on guard against insincerity and machines are the epitome of insincerity… except for the GPS lady in my dashboard who always sounds annoyed. Oddly, she sounds sincere.
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LOL! Thanks for the insights – indeed, mockery sends me into a tizzy, too, so maybe it IS that … I feel like I’m being compelled to participate in a farce … or, something human in me is being hijacked … but I think I would appreciate the voice of your GPS, too!
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