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I think Alexa and Google Assistant simply are too low-intelligence to really consider it “talking” and not just voice commanding

I use voice assistants and find them quite useful, but I've had to learn the interface and memorise the correct trigger phrases. If GPT-4o works half as well in practice as it does in the demos, then it's categorically a different thing.

And so are ChatGPT and Gemini even the newest launched versions.

>> When I'm talking to my local barista I'm not just ordering a coffee, I'm also maintaining a relationship with someone in my community.

>>> But when it comes to work, writing >>> talking. Writing is clarity of ideas. Talking is cult of personality.

A lot of people think of their colleagues as part of a professional community as well, though.

I don't think they've sunk $1 into that idea. They've sunk billions into a different idea: that people enjoy using their vocal cords more than their hands to compose messages to send to each other. That is not a spoken conversation, it's just correspondence with voice input/output options.

Writing is only superior to conversation when weighed against discussions with more than 3 people. A quick call with one or two other people always results in more progress being made as long as everyone involved wants to get it done. Messaging back and forth takes much more time and often leads to misunderstandings.

It depends…

For example, I mentioned something to my contractor and the short thing he said back and his tone had me assume he understood.

Oh, he absolutely did not.

And, with him at least, that doesn’t happen when in writing.