Age of Invisible Machines

Introduction

Conversational AI, My White Whale

By Robb Wilson

Call me Ishmael.

Actually, please don't.

Like Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick, I've spent many a waking hour in heated pursuit of a powerful and elusive white whale: conversational AI. For lingering days, months, and years I've chased this steely beast on the horizon. I was frequently knocked off course by the complexity and newness of the various associated technologies, but I kept up the chase on both sides of land and over all sides of earth (as Melville would say).

For me, this obsession began as an early practitioner in the field of experience design. I noticed that the absolute worst experiences people were routinely having with machines were conversational in nature: purgatorial voice automated call centers and feeble chatbots trying to solve problems online and wreaking havoc on user trust with their inefficiency. Lifting users and organizations out of the seemingly infinite shitbot doldrums seemed like the true white whale of experience design.

It was easy to understand why much of the focus in experience design has been put on creating graphical UIs that draw users in and give them rewarding experiences—wherein complex interactions with machines were easier to manage. Our interactions with computers have been screen based for ages, and as those screens have reached higher definition, been reduced in size, and become touch activated, new opportunities to empower and delight have emerged. I've seen some impressive ...