What Value an Automated Apology?
In an effort to reduce global warming, I often get on my carbon tippy toes and take the train across the Pennines to work.
On one such occasion last week, whilst waiting at my local station I heard a digitised voice from the tannoy “We…are…sorry…to…announce…that the………O…Seven………twenty…three is delayed by approximately…………six………minutes.”
This got me thinking. I receive digital information all the time whether this be text, voice or images. It’s often high value, informative and useful. But it’s almost always factual.
I am not ready yet for a machine to communicate emotions to me.
There are many aspects of our lives that benefit from automation, but apologising when things go wrong is better left to human beings.