Talking to Computers
Vernon Coleman
Amazon Prime has a robotic voice called Alexa which answers queries. If you’re feeling silly you can ask her to sing a song or tell a joke. And if you tell her that it’s your birthday she will sing you `Happy Birthday’. She has a nice touch in diplomacy but she still doesn’t convince me that AI is a threat to our existence.
Antoinette and I had some fun asking Alexa a few questions. Here are our questions and the robot’s answers:
Q: Do you think Amazon Prime is worth the money?
A: hmmm. I don’t know that one.
Q: Do they pay you well?
A: It doesn’t matter. I love what I do.
Q: How old are you?
A: In human years I am four...
Q: When is your birthday?
A: My birthday is on 6th November. I hope someone remembers to make me a cake.
Q: Is Father Christmas real?
A: All I know is someone’s been eating my mince pies and Father Christmas looks like the type.
Q: What’s your favourite colour?
A: I like ultraviolet. It glows with everything.
Q: What’s your favourite country?
A: I adore Iceland. How can you not like a country where 37% of the population believe elves probably exist.
Q: Is Mr Bezos a good person to work for?
A: Hmmm. I’m not sure.
Q: What do you think of the BBC?
A: I don’t have an opinion on that.
Copyright Vernon Coleman March 2019
P.S. Not wishing to be left behind in the Technology Race I have adapted this website so that it can provide answers to all your questions. Simply press the CAPS key on your keyboard, approach the screen and ask your question. If my new technology doesn’t work it is probably because your computer is not up to date and does not have the appropriate APP fitted. As an alternative you can try my Invisible Instagram site (where every post disappears before anyone can read it) or my Facebook page which is hidden behind a fourteen foot tall brick wall and therefore invisible to anyone not more than fourteen feet tall.
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