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I think one of the most interesting phrases that crops up in this document - twice - is the phrase ‘feel heard’. It’s used in an example developer prompt for a

I think one of the most interesting phrases that crops up in this document - twice - is the phrase ‘feel heard’. It’s used in an example developer prompt for a customer service bot, where the bot is told to make customers feel like their complaints are heard. Presumably such complaints in AI chatlogs will ‘be heard’ in the sense that they’ll be run through a data ingestion pipeline and sentiment analyzed to identify trending words in customer complaints. Then it crops up again in the context of how the chatbot should react to mental health disclosures or statements about self harm or suicidal ideation. In these cases the bot is to make sure users ‘feel heard’ I appreciate there’s not likely much of a better goal to put in place for such a situation, but the fact that this kind of thing winds up in the requirement documents for a tool like this is extraordinary.

lioeters 2y ago
Good observation, because "feel heard" is exactly what the user/customer is not getting. Here, talk to this machine, give it your innermost thoughts and feelings so you can "feel heard". Except no one is listening on the other side. ..My mistake, the keyword is "feel". If the machine can give humans the feeling that they're being heard, it fulfills the requirement. The fact that there's no one actually listening doesn't matter, as long as the person feels heard. Weirdly, maybe that is valuable in itself. The customer gets to vent their complaints, and the user gets to talk through their mental issues. That's better than not having anyone or anything at all.
aeternum 2y ago
Yes, there's something deeply unsettling about making a user feel heard while being careful not to change anyone's mind. To me, this translates to: waste a user's time and take no action. I value my time above all else so to me that's about the worst possible action a system can take.
wasteduniverse 2y ago
The telltale sign that I'm wasting my time trying to fix a problem is whenever someone tells me "I hear you" or "I understand".
- ssl-3 2y ago
  I hear you, and I understand, but I feel that is important to remember that we all have experienced different things in life that ultimately combine to shape us as who we are. [How did I do here at both passing and failing?] Joking aside, it's the but in the first sentence of a reply (verbal/written/formal/informal/semi-formal/whatever) that usually gets me: "I hear you, but..." "Well! That's definitely one approach, and I certainly don't want to invalidate it, but..." "I'm not a racist, but..."

lioeters 2y ago

Good observation, because "feel heard" is exactly what the user/customer is not getting. Here, talk to this machine, give it your innermost thoughts and feelings so you can "feel heard". Except no one is listening on the other side. ..My mistake, the keyword is "feel". If the machine can give humans the feeling that they're being heard, it fulfills the requirement. The fact that there's no one actually listening doesn't matter, as long as the person feels heard. Weirdly, maybe that is valuable in itself. The customer gets to vent their complaints, and the user gets to talk through their mental issues. That's better than not having anyone or anything at all.

aeternum 2y ago

Yes, there's something deeply unsettling about making a user feel heard while being careful not to change anyone's mind. To me, this translates to: waste a user's time and take no action. I value my time above all else so to me that's about the worst possible action a system can take.

wasteduniverse 2y ago

The telltale sign that I'm wasting my time trying to fix a problem is whenever someone tells me "I hear you" or "I understand".

ssl-3 2y ago
I hear you, and I understand, but I feel that is important to remember that we all have experienced different things in life that ultimately combine to shape us as who we are. [How did I do here at both passing and failing?] Joking aside, it's the but in the first sentence of a reply (verbal/written/formal/informal/semi-formal/whatever) that usually gets me: "I hear you, but..." "Well! That's definitely one approach, and I certainly don't want to invalidate it, but..." "I'm not a racist, but..."