When buying a new MacBook recently, I was surprised to see that Siri had made her way from iPhone to computer. The enthusiastic, t-shirt clad, Apple assistant encouraged me to register my voice and engage with the standard, "Hey, Siri".

Hey, Siri

He then suggested a number of activities that Siri might be able to help me with:

"Open calculator"

"Email Mary"

"Open Powerpoint"

"How is the weather?"

"Where should I eat tonight?"

There seems to be no end to what Siri can do, find, or recommend. Now, I understand that Siri is not new, and I am told that she has an equivalent program on Microsoft. However, this was my first experience of Siri, and I was fascinated by her capabilities.

Thank you, Siri

Much to the amusement of the Apple assistant, I started experimenting with Siri myself:

"Hi Siri, open calculator, please"

"Thank you, Siri"

"Hi Siri, please email Mary"

Barely able to contain his laughter, he politely explained that it is not necessary to say 'please' or 'thank you' to Siri. He was right. In fact, 'thank you' seems to cause Siri some level of confusion. I then issued numerous instructions to Siri, no 'please', no 'thank you' ... no 'would you mind?'. Despite my lack of courtesy, Siri dutifully complied with each.

Is this the end of courtesy as we know it?

Now, I will be the first to admit that I may be just a little old school. I greet people in the street, and still say 'please' and 'thank you'. I even excuse myself before leaving a room. It may not, therefore, be surprising that I felt rather uncomfortable being less than polite to Siri.

Of course, at face value, this appears to be simply a matter of efficiency, time management, or perhaps just a characteristic of the human - technology interface. However, it makes me wonder ... how long will it be before this style of communication infiltrates human to human interaction? How long before teenagers drop the use of pleasantries altogether? How long before employers use the same approach with staff?

Anyone who has children will know that persuading them to use common courtesy (without constant reminders) can be an uphill battle. Now it seems that our efforts may be undermined by Siri, ever-compliant and always ready to be of service. In the interests of reinforcing common courtesy and preserving polite society, perhaps developers could include a 'courtesy' setting in Siri's next update. I imagine it might go something like this:

Child: "Hey Siri, open Google"

Siri: "And what's the magic word?"

#Language #Technology #Socialisation