Future bots

Given the current state of technology, it makes sense that consumer-level A.I. bots are audio-only. You are likely most familiar with Siri and Alexa, but there are plenty of others out there.

At some point, when everybody will be putting on their mixed reality glasses to mingle with the crowd, such bots will acquire a visual component. Those bots may be private — visible only by you — or they may be shared, either with just your friends or with everyone.

Will people accept such a thing? Or will visual bots be quickly rejected, going the way of Microsoft’s Clippy?

One reason to ponder this question is that visual perception and audio perception are processed in the brain very differently. Our ears can take in many independent stimuli at once without conflict, but we can really only focus on one thing at a time with our visual field.

It’s possible that even with the most advanced technology, consumer-level infobots will always remain an audio thing, like in the movie Her. But hopefully a little less scary.

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