Always someone at the keyhole, eh?
As if to illustrate my point, this computer won’t give me a straight answer to the question of when this post was originally published. I’m guessing 2017, but I might be wrong. The difference between me and a “smart” device is, the device has no conception or right or wrong, true or false–in fact, no conception of anything.
Has it not yet dawned on you that The Powers That Be are increasingly stupid, inept, crass, and unreliable? I mean, come on–look who’s “governing” us!
We’re gonna wind up with Alexa as president if we don’t watch out.
Alexa strikes me as one of the worst ideas in history.
The whole concept of training people to address a machine by a human name — thereby elevating the machine not just to a human status but to a superior human status — always gave me the creeps.
I do understand the concerns many have with this kind of technology, nevertheless I use it often (I am a poor speller, so I used google to make sure I spelled technology correctly). I read the comments. Here are my thoughts.
My brother back in the USA has Alexa. It’s a bit creepy, but also convenient, for when we ask it questions about history or almost any topic our old brains don’t know or have forgotten, it has the correct answers. The first time I was on the phone with him and he asked Alexa a question, I wondered who he was talking too. And when Alexa responded quickly with the correct answer, I thought who is that smart woman?
Is that a good thing? Is it really any different than using the internet or google search when doing research? I use the internet many times for posts on this blog. And when I need information or facts for this blog, my books or articles, I do use the resources from my own library, but most often, I can find the information online quickly. For my book “Reindeer,” the majority of my sources for information I found online, yeah, the books and articles I could read right on my computer screen. I could not have written it without the internet.
So, what’s the difference, if you ask Alexa a question, and you get an answer, or you “ask” google search a question, and get the same answer, but it takes a bit longer with google search or any other search engine?
We all use computers for research, Mike. Most of the time we just assume that what we read is correct. But we don’t really know. I have yet to see Wikipedia describe ANY site or source as “far left.” And most bloggers know by now that Google plays with the search algorithms to suppress Christian and conservative voices.
But of course the same caveats apply to the use of hardbound books, magazines, hearsay, or any source at all. You pays your money and you takes your choice. There are sites I trust and sites I’d never trust. Sometimes we don’t KNOW the answer given by a search engine, or Alexa, or some guy at the checkout line is to be relied upon. Only experience can tell us that.
Yes, I agree. Is the “answer” we find true, or way off point. I did use Wikipedia for a few of my sources for my book “Reindeer” (my editor had a problem with that), but I checked their sources, to make sure the answer or information was correct.
I read from many sites and watch a lot of Youtube, and “stuff” many would say it’s conspiracy theory. But lo and behold, some “conspiracies” turned out to be true (911), which many now believe. And other things, which are considered scientific fact, but as I have gone deeply into the rabbit hole, some “settled science” which most believe, and have been taught all their lives, is one big lie! And part of that reason, is, as you stated, the search algorithms are used to suppress, not only Christian and conservative voices, but many of the subjects and issues I have been researching.
Sometimes when a story has a funny smell to it, I try to find it on two or three other sites. And sometimes I find the exact same wording wherever the article appears. This tells me it’s bogus, and ought to be avoided. The wording shows that no one has checked it for veracity.