I used to think AI was creepy, but these Google AI features are just sad

Date:
Fri, 16 Aug 2024 21:00:43 +0000

Description:
Google's AI will help people be more productive, but the productivity it offers replaces important human experience.

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Google AI will help you be more productive by writing thank-you notes, said Googles VP of Devices and Services, Rick Osterloh, in an interview with
Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal ($/). Osterloh says putting down the pen and switching to digital thank-yous helped him write 10 times more emails than handwritten thank you notes. In the future, AI will help us write exponentially more thank-you notes in even less time.

Doesn't that make you feel sad? The problem is the impersonal nature of such
a feature. Googles AI can do the things a human can do, but it isnt the
things themselves that are important its doing them.

Like many people, I hate writing thank-you notes. I love receiving gifts, and I love giving thanks, but writing thank-you notes turns an occasion into a tedious follow-up chore. Still, on special occasions, I write the notes, because I have also received thank-you notes, and I know how good it feels. The Pixel 9 Pro will be able to send thank you notes at your command (Image credit: Philip Berne/ Future)

Receiving a thank-you note is the ideal result of gift-giving, aside from the pleasure of giving, of course. When I receive a handwritten thank-you note, I dont see words on paper. I see the time it took to write them. I see the effort of finding special stationery, digging stamps out of the junk drawer, and posting the letter in a real-world mailbox.

Writing 100 thank you notes after my wedding was grueling work thinking of something unique and personal to say to everybody. But those arent strangers. Theyre friends and cousins and colleagues and loved ones. You know: people, relationships, that sort of human thing.

When I receive a thank-you card after someone elses wedding and its two spare lines of writing that barely acknowledges our connection proof of life for a gift Im still honored and tickled. I know the effort it takes, and I appreciate when it's taken for me. Being human is an experience, not a result

How many times are we going to have the same conversation, Google? Stop
taking the humanity out of my human life . I dont want an AI that writes thank-you cards, because there is no humanity in it. I don't want an AI that creates fake memories in the form of photographs. I feel sad when humans promote these AI benefits.

I have the same problem with Googles latest camera trick. The new Add Me camera feature on the Pixel 9 worked very well in my hands-on time , and it solves a real problem. If you're hanging out with a group of people and you want to take a group shot, the photographer is left out of the photo. Add Me can add you to group photos using AI.

As a human, I often ask other humans to take a photo of me and my group, and
I have never met another human who refused. Thankfully, Google has solved
this problem. @techradar

Storytelling - Adriel

Once its done, you have an Add Me photo. There you are, standing next to the group. Now, imagine how it will feel looking at that photograph in five
years, or 10 years, or so long into the future that you cant remember everybodys name. I promise, youll get there sooner than youd like.

A real group photo makes you feel a real connection to people. I remember
when a group of us took a photo at the Dorney Park amusement park in Pennsylvania. I remember standing in the back, because Im tall, and putting
my arms around the shorter people in front of me. I wish Id taken off my hat, because you cant see my face, but I was there.

I remember being there, and thats important. In fact, thats the only
important thing.

Even if Ive forgotten the names of the people in the photo, I'll still have a feeling of being there. If I use Googles Add Me, what will I feel? The time I stood by myself while my friend used a Google Pixel 9 to add me? I wont remember how it felt standing in the back, with my arms around people, thats for sure, because Ill be alone. Here's a photo of me and a celebrity I didn't meet

Google's own example for Add Me is even worse. You can take a photo of your friend with a celebrity, Google suggests, then add yourself later. On stage
at the Made By Google event, Google used Add Me with Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler. One presenter stood next to Jimmy Buckets, while the other took a photo. Then, the photographer used Add Me to add himself to the pic. Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat on stage at Made By Google 2024 (Image credit:
Future / Lance Ulanoff)

We all know how this feature will really be used. I'll see Chris Rock
crossing the street in Manhattan and I'll take a photo with Add Me. Then,
I'll add myself to the photo, making it look like Chris Rock and I were crossing the street together.

Sorry, Chris Rock, I'm only using you as an example because I really DID see you crossing the street one time, and I did NOT take a photo and try to add myself later. That would have been sad. And what would I say when I showed people that photo?

"Here's me and Chris Rock!"

"Oh, did you meet Chris Rock?"

"No, but I took a photo and then added myself later using Google's Add Me!" See?

Sad.

I used to call these AI features creepy, but now I've realized that more than anything they make me feelsad.

After I send 100 thank-you emails, written entirely by Gemini AI, will I feel satisfied? Will I feel like Ive thanked anybody?

Then, what happens the next time I receive a thank-you (ugh) a thank-you email? Will it have the same impact? If I think it was written by AI, could
it have any impact at all?

An AI can write a note, but it will not be a thank-you. Googles AI can add
you to a group photo, but it will not make you feel like part of the group. These AI tools will not do what their makers claim they will do, because they claim to help us with our human needs, but and I'm going to say it again there is no humanity in AI. You might also like... Hands on: Google Pixel 9 review the dawn of a new Pixel era The Google Pixel 9 launch proves that RAM is the next great smartphone separator The Google Pixel 9 comes with a new modem inside here's why it matters



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/google-pixel-phones/i-used-to-think-ai-was-cr eepy-but-these-google-ai-features-are-just-sad


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