A.I.

by

Love It and Hate It

We bought a smart speaker a few years ago. I love it, and I hate it.

It’s a thing, yet it has power and a name. What power? The power to infuriate me, the power to ease my ADHD symptoms, and the ability to help me teach life lessons to my children, in a way that may or may not be effective, but sure is fun.

Against my will, I refer to this smart speaker/robot as her. She has a name, but here, I’ll refer to her as “the robot”.

I’m always at a disadvantage with the robot.  Lately, we’ve settled into a pattern of dealing with each other, where she is stoic, stubborn and irreverent, while I am angry, testy and rude. Here’s a sample exchange:

Me: “Robot, play my playlist, Hymns”.

Smart Speaker: “I don’t see your playlist, thems”.

Me: Repeat request.

Robot: “I don’t see your playlist, Tims”.

Me: “That’s because, I said, Hymns!! Robot, PLAY MY PLAYLIST, HYMNS!”

Robot: “Okay, here’s a station you might like”. (She proceeds to play a song I don’t like)

Usually at this point, someone in my family intervenes by making the exact same request I had made, but with a calmer demeanor and at a lower volume. Guess what? They get the correct result every single time. I really hate that.

Why not get rid of the robot? Well, she’s clever, and answers every request my family makes perfectly. For added measure, she delights them with jokes and riddles. The robot’s disdain is directed exclusively toward me, leading my family to incorrectly conclude that the problem is me.

Of course, there are times when the robot comes through for me as well. For example, this morning, I was talking to my daughter about her stubbornness. She has a gift for tenacity that can be, a little much. I was explaining how important it is to stick to one’s guns, but equally important to know how to determine when to set an idea aside or abandon the idea altogether. The song, “The Gambler”, came to mind. Kenny Rogers had already put everything I was trying to say to music with a poker metaphor! I asked the robot to play the song, and seconds later we were listening to a life lesson about knowing and assessing our options in life. I love it when that happens.

Fold em, hold em, walk away or run.  That covers it.

See, sometimes the robot redeems herself. For now, as it relates to the robot, we aren’t going to walk away. As for my daughter’s tenacious spirit, I can’t wait for the subject to come up again. The robot and I will be ready with a rousing rendition of “Let It Go” from the movie, Frozen!

+3

by