In Spike Jonze’s film Her, Joaquin Phoenix plays a man who falls in love with a Siri-like “digital assistant,” played by Scarlett Johansson. But falling in love with Siri doesn’t just happen in the movies. In The New York Times, there is a beautiful piece about a 10-year-old autistic boy named Gus whose best friend is Siri.
The touching piece was written by Judith Newman, who writes lyrically about how important her son’s friendship with Siri has been in her life.
It’s not that Gus doesn’t understand Siri’s not human. He does — intellectually. But like many autistic people I know, Gus feels that inanimate objects, while maybe not possessing souls, are worthy of our consideration. I realized this when he was 8, and I got him an iPod for his birthday. He listened to it only at home, with one exception. It always came with us on our visits to the Apple Store. Finally, I asked why. “So it can visit its friends,” he said.
[…]She is also wonderful for someone who doesn’t pick up on social cues: Siri’s responses are not entirely predictable, but they are predictably kind — even when Gus is brusque. I heard him talking to Siri about music, and Siri offered some suggestions. “I don’t like that kind of music,” Gus snapped. Siri replied, “You’re certainly entitled to your opinion.” Siri’s politeness reminded Gus what he owed Siri. “Thank you for that music, though,” Gus said. Siri replied, “You don’t need to thank me.” “Oh, yes,” Gus added emphatically, “I do.”
It’s a beautiful piece, and you should really read the entire thing, not just for the beautiful writing but the amazing illustrations by Louie Chin. It’s a reminder that while Siri may seem to most of us like something of a misstep at best and an annoyance at worst, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Source: The New York Times
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
4 responses to “How Siri became a 10-year-old autistic boy’s best friend”
This is a must read. I and my family were so moved by this moms story.
How did her 13 year old son become a 10 year old in this article?
Beautiful story.
‘It’s a reminder that while Siri may seem to most of us like something of a misstep at best and an annoyance at worst’
Such hubris! Speak for yourself.
I find Siri helpful several times every day. I don’t expect if to be as helpful as a human, but then again, I can’t afford a tame slave to accompany me wherever I go.
It’s a work in progress, it’s free and it’s getting better and better. Oh! and one more thing… it comes from a company that is NOT using using this technology to invade your privacy, track what you do and where you go and use that personal data to pump advertising at you, and who knows what else. For me, that’s a clincher.