When it comes to conversational AI, science fiction sets a high bar. In the book and film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the sentient computer system HAL 9000 is so advanced that it figures out how to read people’s lips. A boxy tactical robot in Interstellar, TARS has adjustable levels of sarcasm. Samantha, the conversant operating system in Her, is so nuanced, sophisticated, and “human” than its user, Theodore, falls madly in love.
It’s tempting to take these examples as benchmarks for providing customers with chatbot experiences that feel as human as possible, but that’s almost always the wrong approach—one that can quickly veer into the ditch of unintended creepiness. Massive technological barriers have been hurdled and smashed in the pursuit of conversational AI, but HAL, TARS, and Samantha exist on the other side of the uncanny valley.
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