Why is technology so cold?

"Hey Siri, remind me to collect clothes from my dry cleaners on the way back from work" - probably one of the more common use cases of the digital assistant residing in our phones. Companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft are investing billions to convince you that such technology is key in increasing your creativity, productivity, filling the void in your life, etc etc., For a minute, let us accept that they are indeed living up to their claims, but then, Siri replies in a typically robotic, non-human way that she (it) has setup the reminder at a certain time of the day. In this post, I want to address my concerns about this 'cold' nature of technology at large. Why can't my phone speak to me in a natural, more 'human' manner?

When we take a step back, we understand that technology works on sheer logic - there are no emotions. Until the whole claim of AI is realized, technology will only do things that we want it to do and not have the ability to think beyond available data. The Google Assistant goes a step further to make conversations with machines more mainstream, but then again, these are just pieces of data processed by some algorithms designed by us in a lab. Not to mention, I need to use the word Ok Google in a set, predictable manner to ensure that this happens. Don't get me wrong, I am all in for early adoption, but the fundamental issue of technology being lifeless will always stay. Pushing buttons or swiping on a cold glass surface do not bring elements of nature to life.

I believe one of the reasons for this is the inherent nature of technology. A computer can process either 0 or 1 and even to process anything in between, it still relies on 0's and 1's - something to think about! Drawing a parallel from another passion of mine - automobiles, technology, especially in this transition phase appears 'engineered'. An internal combustion engine can give you emotions of idle, a full roar and everything in between, but a lab is quiet, clean and requires air conditioning - so cold no?

Should we be worried about the day computers can think about this grey area? It's too early to comment. Maybe 20 years from now, computers will paint the next Mona List, compose classics to challenge Mozart or Beethoven, but for now, I'm happy knowing that there still exists a grey space in this world for us humans to indulge in.