The Observer Newspapers | Real Person or Smart Computer?

August 22, 2008

Real Person or Smart Computer?

It's getting harder and harder to tell whether you are communicating with real people or computers in this high-tech world.

I went to the Comcast Web site this week to inquire about bundling my telephone, Internet and cable service into one package, and I was connected to a customer service representative via "live chat." It's like what used to be called Instant Messenger.

Basically, instead of you being on the telephone, you're exchanging text messages over the computer instead. But this being the global economy and all, I had a hard time telling whether I was talking to a computer or to someone who may not have English as a first language.

I suppose the representatives are coached to provide responses to every message a client may send, if for nothing other than to confirm that their message was received. But when I offered to provide my account number, the message I received was "I see."

Odd, I thought. The response I got to another question I asked was "Thank you for the offer." And then there were the comments like "I would be pleased to know your name."

I wanted to ask directly, "Am I talking to a computer or a real person," but I was afraid I would either insult the person on the other end or just come across as an idiot.

After a while, it did become clear that I was communicating with a real person, and I didn't get a chance to find out where in the world she (or he) was. Then again, in the global economy, she might have been working out of a call center in Cleveland, or right here in Fairfax County.