The Artificial Passenger

I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me a while longer. Things are hectic round here at the moment and without my laptop, I’m pretty useless. How on earth did writers cope before computers? They must have had a whole lot more discipline and patience than I do, I think.

I’ve been reading Counting Sheep by Paul Martin recently (well worth reading if you’re interested in sleep and dreaming, and easy to read too). There’s a section that particularly caught my interest about something called the ‘Artificial Passenger’, developed by IBM to reduce accidents caused by sleepiness. Has anyone come across this? It’s designed to go in cars, programmed with personal information about the driver. The idea is that it can hold a conversation with you, even tell you jokes, to keep you stimulated while you’re driving. It judges your responses on intonation and speed and if it concludes that you’re falling asleep, it opens a window, sounds an alarm or sprays water at you to keep you awake. Which I imagine could be quite dangerous in itself, but one assumes this has all been safety tested.

Apart from the fact that this seems like an insane idea, I can’t imagine how it can possibly work. Even if it knows all your favourite conversational subjects, how can it know enough about them to provide enough engaging conversational material to keep your mind busy? I imagine the conversation would be a little one-sided.

While I’m all for looking for ways to reduce road accidents, this idea seems a bit crazy to me. The idea of any kind of artificial company worries me. What’s wrong with a good night’s sleep and/or a real passenger? One who actually knows you and has a natural ability to converse.

The idea reminds me a little bit of Paro the Seal, a robotic baby seal that responds to human voice and touch, invented in Japan for use in nursing homes and hospitals. It was designed as a therapy tool, and is apparently very effective in reducing stress and promoting social interaction between patients. But I find the idea a bit creepy. Yes it’s very cute, but there’s something disturbing about watching cared-for adults talking to an inanimate object. It just feels very patronising.

I leave you with Paro. And I have to say, I can see the attraction. Which is, perhaps, what frightens me.


Image by Aaron Biggs