Category: Culture

Talking to Robots

Sorry, I did not understand you. Please try again. Sorry, I did not understand you. Lets start over.

Recent experiences at trying to get to a blood pumping, lung breathing, skin draped human when I’m trying to resolve an issue with a large corporation have been mind crushing.

I will sometimes succeed when the robot voice answering the call offers numerical choices I can respond to with my keypad, but when they want me to actually speak to them about what I want, this technology all too often leads me to blast profanity, at high volume, that could get me incarcerated.

Sorry. I could not understand you. Please try again.

This morning’s call into my service provider was the best example yet proving we are still in the infancy stages of this technology. The large corporations using it do so to decrease their head count, and look hip. Twice in the first call I was redirected back to the very top of the question and response chain after spending 3 to 4 minutes trying to provide the reason of my call. If the police or federal agents knock on my door sometime today I will not be surprised.

Sorry. I could not understand you. Let’s start over..

On my second call in, I responded to every request for information with a 5 second hold down of my zero (0) keypad button. This finally led to being dumped into a call center, and after a 5 to 10 minute wait (no problem with that, my headset is on and I’m doing other things), I actually got to an actual live person. It wasn’t the right person (my bad for the hold down the 0 ploy), but a nice person who sent my call to the right place in less than a minute, where my issue was resolved in less than 2 minutes by another pleasant person.

I really do try to play nice with the bots when they present themselves, but the technology just isn’t there yet. And when it starts listing the different issues you may be calling about, I find all too often mine is not offered as a selection. I do use online services so I almost always search the target corporation’s web site for an answer on my problem, or specifically where to call.

Suggestions to our Corporate Czars? Back off a little with the reductions in headcount in the customer service area, until the bot voice technology catches up as a quality replacement. And the folks in your company managing the bot technology may need to understand the human interface a little better.

Sorry. I am not working well for you. I will transfer you to Margie. She will help you.

Blissful Ignorance? Bite me.

Response to a tweet saying I’m not a good citizen.

2016 Protest

NOTE: This post was written in rage, and originally published on March 12, 2017.  I deleted it within hours, not in the mood for a social media barrage from both sides of the administration’s loudest supporters and haters.  Like them though, I have strong feelings about the “swamp” (cesspool?) growing larger in DC, in both parties.  I have often regretted removing this post, so here it is.

A tweet in my timeline last week strongly inferred that those of us not participating in “The Resistance” and not availing all our free time to the news media’s political reporting, were not being good citizens.  It also stated that we’re all too comfortable in our state of “blissful ignorance”.  This got me pretty cranked up.

Ignoring the talking heads and spin doctors is not “blissful ignorance”, and neither is non-participation in street protest.  It’s one reaction to not being able to determine which news reports are credible and truthful, due to paid-for bias and the rating wars.  Add my core belief we are way past the point where any number of us in the 99% could collectively do anything to bring about change.

The two choices given to us for President of the United States of America last November shows that the ruling aristocracy in America owns the government, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.  Our children and our planet do not factor into their actions, as their only concern is keeping their power and satisfying their greed.