4 ms·

>Part of what we're seeing with the automation going on is giving ordinary people some semblance of what the elite have had for a long time: administrative assi

>Part of what we're seeing with the automation going on is giving ordinary people some semblance of what the elite have had for a long time: administrative assistants/personal assistants. "Take a memo for me, write up an invitation letter and send it to my wife's sister" For much of the uber powerful and wealthy, gruntwork communications have taken the original person out of the message. >We could argue whether or not everyone getting their own AI admin assistant is good or bad for society (will everyone just have their assistants talk to each other, and no one will talk directly anymore?) But I must admit, I hate dealing with non-friends/family in communications that involve transactions. There's nothing I hate more than having to book stuff, call customer service, or write emails to service departments. The thing is, if I had to point to a problem I have in life and for which I'd be willing to pay for a solution, a lack of a secretary and excessive personal admin stuff is simply not it. This is solving a problem that, at least to my eyes, only the powerful actually have.

emodendroket 9y ago
Speak for yourself.
- eli_gottlieb 9y ago
  Sure sure. The question is how large a market people like you actually make up, since companies like Google usually want to make products that can reach as many people as possible.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    I doubt it's unusual. My father used to solve this problem by making my mother make all the calls, but that is a harder sell these days.
brightball 9y ago
The closest I've ever actually gotten to having an assistant was a stretch of about 2 years after we had our 2nd child. Since my wife and I both work full time, we needed child care. It was about the same price to hire a nanny as it was to send 2 kids to daycare, so we did some interviews and hired one. That 2 years was probably the easiest stretch of dual working parent life that we ever had. She did a load of laundry and a load of dishes each day while the kids were having naps. If we were low on detergent or supplies that the kids needed, we gave her cash and she'd pick it up on her way in. If somebody needed to be at the house for some reason, she was there and neither my wife nor I had to remove ourselves from work to take care of it. We literally came home from work, ate dinner, played with the kids. When the weekends came around we didn't have to dedicate a chunk of it to laundry/cleaning. It was pretty fantastic. I can only imagine how having a actual assistant would take things to the next level. All that said, the types of phone calls that Google is talking about making here aren't that beneficial...yet. When Google can call my cable company, wade through the phone tree and get a service appointment or issue resolved...I'll be all over it. Even just wading through the phone tree and sitting on hold until an actual person is reached and then handing it back off to me. Those are the time wasters I'd want saved. What Google is doing here is equivalent of automating the functionality that people pay for with OnStar.
- walshemj 9y ago
  Seconded ;-) a few years in the UK ago I was a committee that ran the national raft race for an organisation like rotoract (the youth side of rotary) about a hundred teams and 1500 participants over the weekend (we also laid on camping and entertainment for the 3 days). One of the other members was the PA to the chief fire officer for the county (State in us terms) and they where so efficient it was amazing. At the first meeting before it started they had already worked out what formal letters need to be written updated them from last year and got the other committee members to sign - two copies on to send an done for the file.
- kolpa 9y ago
  I'm curious where you live. In my area, a "nanny" is exclusively or childcare (and well paid, including Social Security and Unemployment premiums), with no meal prep or laundry. We "cleaned the house for the nanny" to avoid embarrassment. Honestly it felt more like we were charitable sponsors to an underemployed youth (in exchange for having someone fulfill the obligation of keeping the toddler accompanied) than we were hiring an employee. It's a far cry from the do-everything (and possibly cash-under-the-table) servant help I've seen in the past/elsewhere.
  - brightball 9y ago
    We started out with childcare only and then after she'd been there for about a month offered a $2 / hr increase if she was up for the load of laundry + dishes. I live in the Greenville, SC area and we went through a local screening and hiring service here that also helps people find baby sitters.
- ktsmith 9y ago
  > All that said, the types of phone calls that Google is talking about making here aren't that beneficial...yet. Even scheduling appointments as in their demo can be really beneficial. My wife and I both work, I have flexibility to make calls during the day but she really doesn't. As a teacher she's constantly having her lunch or short breaks while the kids are at recess taken up by work issues. A surprising number of places are also closed shortly after she gets off work as well. Yesterday she tried to make an appointment with her doctors office and spent her full ten minute recess time on hold. She did end up getting through after school right before they closed but spent an additional ten minutes on hold. None of our doctors, dentists, barbers/stylists have online booking systems. The doctors offices have automated appointment reminder systems but that's it. > Even just wading through the phone tree and sitting on hold until an actual person is reached and then handing it back off to me. This doesn't work for someone in her situation. There are a ton of hourly workers that are in the same boat. I showed my wife the demo of duplex last night and her responses were that it was amazing and unfortunate that it wasn't available yet.
int_handler 8y ago
So you enjoy being on hold for long periods of time and having to deal with unhelpful customer service representatives?

emodendroket 9y ago

Speak for yourself.

eli_gottlieb 9y ago
Sure sure. The question is how large a market people like you actually make up, since companies like Google usually want to make products that can reach as many people as possible.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  I doubt it's unusual. My father used to solve this problem by making my mother make all the calls, but that is a harder sell these days.

brightball 9y ago

The closest I've ever actually gotten to having an assistant was a stretch of about 2 years after we had our 2nd child. Since my wife and I both work full time, we needed child care. It was about the same price to hire a nanny as it was to send 2 kids to daycare, so we did some interviews and hired one. That 2 years was probably the easiest stretch of dual working parent life that we ever had. She did a load of laundry and a load of dishes each day while the kids were having naps. If we were low on detergent or supplies that the kids needed, we gave her cash and she'd pick it up on her way in. If somebody needed to be at the house for some reason, she was there and neither my wife nor I had to remove ourselves from work to take care of it. We literally came home from work, ate dinner, played with the kids. When the weekends came around we didn't have to dedicate a chunk of it to laundry/cleaning. It was pretty fantastic. I can only imagine how having a actual assistant would take things to the next level. All that said, the types of phone calls that Google is talking about making here aren't that beneficial...yet. When Google can call my cable company, wade through the phone tree and get a service appointment or issue resolved...I'll be all over it. Even just wading through the phone tree and sitting on hold until an actual person is reached and then handing it back off to me. Those are the time wasters I'd want saved. What Google is doing here is equivalent of automating the functionality that people pay for with OnStar.

walshemj 9y ago
Seconded ;-) a few years in the UK ago I was a committee that ran the national raft race for an organisation like rotoract (the youth side of rotary) about a hundred teams and 1500 participants over the weekend (we also laid on camping and entertainment for the 3 days). One of the other members was the PA to the chief fire officer for the county (State in us terms) and they where so efficient it was amazing. At the first meeting before it started they had already worked out what formal letters need to be written updated them from last year and got the other committee members to sign - two copies on to send an done for the file.
kolpa 9y ago
I'm curious where you live. In my area, a "nanny" is exclusively or childcare (and well paid, including Social Security and Unemployment premiums), with no meal prep or laundry. We "cleaned the house for the nanny" to avoid embarrassment. Honestly it felt more like we were charitable sponsors to an underemployed youth (in exchange for having someone fulfill the obligation of keeping the toddler accompanied) than we were hiring an employee. It's a far cry from the do-everything (and possibly cash-under-the-table) servant help I've seen in the past/elsewhere.
- brightball 9y ago
  We started out with childcare only and then after she'd been there for about a month offered a $2 / hr increase if she was up for the load of laundry + dishes. I live in the Greenville, SC area and we went through a local screening and hiring service here that also helps people find baby sitters.
ktsmith 9y ago
> All that said, the types of phone calls that Google is talking about making here aren't that beneficial...yet. Even scheduling appointments as in their demo can be really beneficial. My wife and I both work, I have flexibility to make calls during the day but she really doesn't. As a teacher she's constantly having her lunch or short breaks while the kids are at recess taken up by work issues. A surprising number of places are also closed shortly after she gets off work as well. Yesterday she tried to make an appointment with her doctors office and spent her full ten minute recess time on hold. She did end up getting through after school right before they closed but spent an additional ten minutes on hold. None of our doctors, dentists, barbers/stylists have online booking systems. The doctors offices have automated appointment reminder systems but that's it. > Even just wading through the phone tree and sitting on hold until an actual person is reached and then handing it back off to me. This doesn't work for someone in her situation. There are a ton of hourly workers that are in the same boat. I showed my wife the demo of duplex last night and her responses were that it was amazing and unfortunate that it wasn't available yet.

int_handler 8y ago

So you enjoy being on hold for long periods of time and having to deal with unhelpful customer service representatives?