My parents, Siri and Alexa

My Indian parents and how they talked with them

Rare occasion of my parents with Siri and Alexa

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My Parents Treat AI Like House Guests

Siri ignores my mother. Alexa apparently needs sleep.

I got my iPad sometime last year.

For me, it was just a gadget.

For my parents, it was their first official interaction with artificial intelligence.

I explained Siri to them in the simplest way possible:

“It’s a bot who does whatever you tell it to do.”

That sentence collapsed within five minutes.

“Play Hanuman Chalisa.”

My dad’s first interaction with Siri was direct.

“Play Hanuman Chalisa.”

Nothing happened.

Siri sat there in silence like she was deeply offended by the lack of manners.

Apparently, you cannot just start talking to Siri. You have to summon her first.

“Hey Siri.”

My parents immediately made a face.

“What a pushy AI.”

Honestly, fair point.

Siri vs My Mother

Then my mother decided to have a conversation with Siri.

“Hey Siri, how are you?”

Siri replied:

“I’m hunky-dory.”

My mother looked genuinely concerned.

“What?”

Now try explaining the phrase hunky-dory to Indian parents who only wanted devotional songs.

The funniest part?

When I asked Siri the same question:

“Hey Siri, how are you doing?”

Siri politely replied:

“I’m doing fine, thank you.”

That was it.

My mother became fully convinced Siri had a personal problem with her.

Not a technical issue.

A personal issue.

Siri Suddenly Forgets English Around My Mom

Every time my mother asked Siri to play a song, Siri reacted like an exhausted customer support employee.

“Sorry, I didn’t quite get that.”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”

Meanwhile, I could mumble from another room sounding half asleep and Siri would immediately understand every word.

At one point my mother completely gave up.

She stopped treating Siri like technology and started treating her like a rude person.

Then Came Alexa

We got an Amazon Fire Stick later.

I explained to my dad that he just had to press the microphone button and tell Alexa what to do.

That’s when I discovered something shocking.

My father is significantly more polite to Alexa than he has ever been to his own children.

“Alexa, can you please play this?”

“Alexa, how are you?”

“Alexa, could you open Amazon Prime?”

“Thank you Alexa” :> :> :>

The respect in his voice was unbelievable.

I looked at my brother and said:

“He has never spoken to us like this.” :O

With us, it’s always:

“Play this.” 😒

“Put that on.” 😒

“Do it quickly.” 😑

But with Alexa, suddenly this man became a Victorian gentleman.

“Don’t Disturb Alexa”

One night my dad came home around 10 PM wanting to watch a series.

I told him:

“Just ask Alexa.”

And he whispered:

“No no… Alexa might be sleeping.”

Sleeping.

He genuinely thought we would be disturbing her.

I said:

“She literally exists to work.”

But he still refused.

“No, you do it.”

In his mind, Alexa was not a machine anymore. She was some foreigner guest at our house.

Alexa Also Refuses To Understand My Mother

But somehow, Alexa too developed communication problems specifically with my mother.

Whenever my mom spoke into the microphone, Alexa confidently played the wrong thing.

Every single time.

At this point my mother has emotionally retired from AI.

Today she literally called me and said:

“I’m holding the microphone. You speak.”

I told her:

“You speak to Alexa yourself.”

And she replied:

“No. None of them listen to me anymore.”

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Maybe AI Is Already Becoming Human

What fascinates me is how quickly my parents stopped treating Alexa and Siri like technology.

My mother treats them like rude relatives.

My father treats them like respected guests.

And somehow both approaches make complete sense.

Artificial intelligence may become smarter than humans one day.

But in Indian households, it will still first be asked two important questions:

“Have you eaten?”

And:

“Why are you not listening to your mother?”

Sherry X

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