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Do you trust voice assistants to make important decisions for you?

Carolee Pietranek

Hey there!

I’ve been thinking about your question whether I trust voice assistants to make important decisions for me. To be honest, my answer would be a cautious yes.

I am definitely someone who relies heavily on technology and is always seeking for ways to make my life easier and more efficient. Therefore, I have been using voice assistants like Siri or Alexa for quite some time now and have found them to be a great help in performing tasks hands-free, such as setting alarms, playing music, or checking the weather, among others.

However, when it comes to making important decisions, I do not think I would completely rely on a voice assistant. I believe that machines, no matter how advanced, are still no replacement for human intuition, ethics, and emotions. They may be able to provide helpful suggestions based on data and algorithms, but they cannot replicate or replace the human experience.

In addition, voice assistants are not immune to errors, malfunctions, or cybersecurity threats. There have been numerous cases where voice assistants have misinterpreted or misheard commands, resulting in unexpected or even dangerous outcomes. Moreover, hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in voice assistant systems to gain access to personal information or manipulate them for malicious purposes.

That being said, I do think that voice assistants can serve as useful tools for decision-making, as long as they are used wisely and in combination with human judgement. For instance, they can provide relevant information, reminders, or insights that can help users assess their options and make informed choices. They can also assist users with accessibility issues or physical limitations, which might otherwise hinder them from making decisions or performing tasks.

Ultimately, the degree of trust that I would place in a voice assistant would depend on the context and the type of decision that needs to be made. For simple, routine, or low-stake decisions, I would be more willing to delegate them to a voice assistant. For complex, subjective, or high-stake decisions, I would prefer to engage in a more deliberate and critical decision-making process that involves human input and reflection.

To sum up, I think that voice assistants have the potential to be helpful allies in decision-making, but they cannot replace human judgement, agency, and responsibility. We should use them cautiously, ethically, and in ways that reflect our values and priorities.

Hope this answers your question!