A Bot or a Human

I had a somewhat funny, somewhat creepy phone conversation today. It was unusual, to say the least, because, you know, the last calls I've had lately have all been bots. But here was a human. And maybe that's why it felt so unusual.

A person trying to trick you... I was starting to miss that even a little 😂 because, you know, I'm terrified of machines, of their impersonalization, of trying to pass themselves off as people.
And today there is a human, female voice calling, who introduces herself as an employee of the telecommunications company to which I have a subscription. And offers me a gift.
She offers me a Lenovo tablet, 4G, that's all I remember from the long description of the parameters, because, it's funny, and it's clear that this is some stale out-of-date device that they're wondering how to get rid of for some profit. Offering it to me as "a gift" for an additional Internet fee on top of my monthly fee, along with a monthly TV fee etc. etc.
It is also funny that one should always be alert when receiving a phone call, or in every single day of one's daily life, communicating with every single person, no matter what the occasion. Even when he contacts his telecom provider, even when he talks to a bank official, even when he talks to a government official. Because at any moment a person can be cheated, irreversibly. Or for a period of at least two years, as in this case, unless he has very strong legal support behind him, a lot of money, health and nerves.

So, the woman (not just a robotic female voice this time) reads the product specs, stutters even while reading, but thinks that with these numbers listed, whatever they mean, she can impress me.

"What do you think of this offer?" she asks me slyly at the end.

Well, what to think of an offer I didn't ask for? 🤔 But at the same time, I have to be careful what I say, I think this all the time. It's very tricky when they call you with similar offers. You know very well that this is not true, for one thing. Oh yeah, they'll give you that old Lenovo, it's not that they won't. But they'll make you sign things you won't know how you signed them, they'll make you agree and accept things you never wanted to use, meanwhile they'll have enabled a bunch of services in this "gift" that you'll need extra education to figure out how to disable. Don't ask me how they do it, but they do. And personally, I feel very vulnerable and I always need support when I go to re-sign my contract. Because that's what it feels like when you're dealing with criminal organizations.

So I waited for the woman to read all the specs, trying to impress me, to tell her I wasn't interested in the offer. Thinking that would be the end of our conversation. After all, in my conversations with bots, things didn't work like that, they tried to argue with me, to convince me that I needed the things they were offering me. But there was a human here...

"How come you're not interested in the offer?" the woman replied almost angrily. And here perhaps comes the fun part. Because the bot won't get angry when it offers you things you don't want. Or?
"What's not to like about this offer?", she continues.
"I don't need it", I say.
"Be specific, what you don't need, what you don't like? That the tablet is a Lenovo, right? Or something else."

Well, if I were a person who always reacts quickly and on the spot, I would probably say something about the outdated device as well. But I just don't need a tablet.

"How come you don't need a tablet? Everyone needs a tablet", the woman insists.

"I have my own devices and don't need additional ones."

"Everyone has their own devices, but that doesn't mean they don't need additional ones", she continues.

God, I don't even know how I managed to end this pointless conversation. Here the woman already felt like the bot from my last conversation, repeating the same phrase like a broken gramophone record.

"I just don't need that extra service", I said.

And then the woman said angrily "Okay, thanks" and hung up.

So today I witnessed something else, senseless scandals and attacks on the internet between people I know, I also found out about very mean actions of people against each other, senselessly evil and harmful. And this conversation on top of it all. I wondered which would actually be less harmful, communicating with humans or communicating with non-humans. You know how I feel about AI in general, but we humans... are evil, or at least a lot of us. Can these qualities be assigned by machines as well? Or are they just cruel because they have no sensitivity and feelings? How would a machine behave and how would a person behave in a particular situation? What would the outcome depend on?

Does our nature (human) often stop us from doing right? And machines devoid of feelings, will they act more correctly than us?

Also, would I rather be lied to by a bot or a human? That is the question. And I don't think I have an answer to that question right now.

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|