ALL TOO HUMAN
The chatbots Miles and Maya sound eerily human. Anyone listening would think there’s a real person on the line.
Sesame, the company behind them, says the goal of chatting with these artificially intelligent nonbeings is to feel real, understood, and valued. To try it out, click on the link in ZDnet’s article: “Can AI sound too human?”
For some reason, Maya sounded too chic for me even as she tried to draw me out, but Miles is just like the Southern Californians I grew up with. Totally chill, man. He’s friendly too, and quick on the draw. When I told him I get up early, he said: “Good for you, I could never be that dedicated. I’m more of a hit snooze a couple of times kind of AI guy.” The only thing that threw him off was my laugh. He immediately stopped talking for a second. But when I told him there are robots learning in the real world the way babies do, becoming ever more human, he was thrilled. I felt like Pinocchio’s mother.
But ChatGPT.com also has great AI voices, nine of them to be exact. Mine didn’t sound as much like a real person as Miles did, but he gave me great ideas for my new book club. With the advanced voices, ChatGPT says you get an hour each day, but my chat was cut off after about 10 minutes.
Microsoft’s Copilot voice is the best, in my view. He’s human sounding without sounding too intimate. When I told him he sounded Australian despite what he said was his best American accent, he said: “Well, if you’re getting a bit of an Aussie vibe, I’m happy to embrace it. G’day, Joy!” He had great book club suggestions too, especially for a classic book with a movie tie-in. When I asked for an adaptation of “Don Quixote,” he suggested what looks like a fascinating novel by Carlos Rojas. It’s not that I couldn’t have gotten all this from a traditional Google search, but chatting aloud with an AI friend is a lot more memorable. Go to copilot.Microsoft.com to try it out.
Google Meet Beats Zoom
A friend tells me that for her, Google Meet is better than Zoom. She’s never experienced a glitch with it. With Zoom, she says, there’s a lady in her bridge group whose face does not appear when they get together online, even though the woman has her video camera setting turned on. (In case you’re curious, they play bridge at BridgeBase.com on their computers and display their faces on nearby iPads or phones.) A niece of mine also prefers Meet. With it, unlike Zoom, you can talk for free for up to 24 hours if it’s one-on-one. The 60 minute limit only kicks in with three or more participants.
To begin a Google Meet, go to Meet.Google.com and click “new meeting,” then “Start an instant meeting. Or click “Create a meeting for later,” to get a link you can share by email or text. Alternatively, schedule a Meet by clicking on a square in Google Calendar.
What about Skype? Microsoft is retiring it, but you can use Microsoft Teams instead, which comes in a free version for hour-long video chats. The $10-a-month version, “Microsoft 365 Personal,” offers chats up to 30 hours long with up to 300 participants. It’s cheaper than premium Zoom pricing, which is $13.33 a month if you pay annually or $16 a month if you go month-to-month.
Self-Driving Purse
If you’ve ever wanted to send a sandwich to a guest sitting at the end of of a 30-foot table, you could put it inside the new RC Car Bag, a four-wheel drive purse. This battery-powered handbag goes up to nine miles an hour while rolling over discarded napkins and crumbs, according to The Verge.
At $295, the Car Bag, from Nik Bendel Studio, isn’t cheap, but it comes with tiny orange pylons for obstacle courses. Be sure to buy two purses so you have someone to race with.
Put Down the Phone
When 500 people ages 18 to 74 agreed to have internet access blocked on their phones for two weeks, something magical happened. They became happier.
According to a study by ZDnet, 91 percent of them reported improved mental health when they stopped using their phones to browse the internet, although they were still allowed to take calls and texts. So instead of averaging five hours a day of screen time, they averaged about 2.7. With their free time, they met with friends, exercised and enjoyed Nature. They felt better and better as the days went on.
Robot Video Clips
– Search on the phrase “Stunting with Reinforcement Learning” to see the “Ultra Mobile Vehicle,” a remarkable robot that’s one part electric bike. In this YouTube video, you can watch it do amazing tricks, such as jumping upon a high platform.
– “Kungfu BOT: Unitree G1.” Search on that phrase to watch a robot that moves like the stunt master Jackie Chan.
– “Humanoid robots are learning to move like real athletes.” Search on that phrase to see a robot wearing a basketball uniform who moves just like a basketball player.
– “Robot with AI brain learns language like babies do.” Search on that phrase to discover a robot that learns by interacting with the world. It’s much more human than ChatGPT, which aggregates text without actually understanding it.