Questioning whether the technology exists yet for bots to forge meaningful relationships with humans–and, if not, what we should trust them with.
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The Bot Power List 2016
Science fiction is full of bots that hurt people. HAL 9000 kills one astronaut and tries to kill another in 2001: A Space Odyssey; Ava in Ex Machina expertly manipulates the humans she meets to try and escape her cell; the T-800 is known as The Terminator for obvious reasons. Even more common, though, are […]![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/af6df-1pppizvwqssduxbsbs9agoa.png)
If You Talk to Bots, You’re Talking to Their Bosses
The customer service chatbots offered by companies are simply a new way to gather user data.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/fee99-1wkf4umvxmtnbropmvzpjlw.jpeg)
Chatbots Can Create Characters, but Only Humans Can Tell Stories
While bots can now write fiction, they lack the depth and nuance of human storytellers–for now![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/4ff1b-1pyqzwacn6alstg4o8l5_5q.png)
Does Siri Believe in God?
A theological guide to chatbots and the world’s major religions.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/a8bb5-1yvcnnoeopahsmbmfrj_yuw.gif)
Falling in Love With a Bot Is Inevitable
People form intimate connections with even the simplest of machines–and as bots become more sophisticated, so will our relationships with them.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/14aef-1ga-b08gwjcmpskjkomxflg.png)
The Police Are Recruiting Interrogation Bots
The next generation of lie detectors may be chatbots–but there are serious questions regarding the ethical framework underpinning them.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/dde27-171y4vlrmsxzi2af7j3zruq.png)
Who’s to Blame When a Therapy Bot Goes Wrong?
Deploying bots in a medical setting demands a whole new ethical framework.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/65e9e-1b4vesei0yvf4einlah9ela.jpeg)
I Tried Dieting With a Chatbot. I Hated It.
“Here I am, inside a chat app, with no agency to ask the most basic questions about how the product works.”![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/337a1-14r7jgyvtnkby9xckoklp5a.jpeg)
Taming the Wild West of Journobots
We need an “algorithmic ombudsman” to safeguard our news.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/d1ae7-1lh4ouryssimef2ttiixpaw.png)
Can a Computer Learn to Dance?
The biggest problem for robots understanding dance is the same as for humans–notation.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/c2a06-1xadiztropqs1jfznh9g0cw.jpeg)
Why Bots Should Be More Like Plants and Less Like People
Our bot ecosystems might be intelligent, but that doesn’t mean we have to be able to talk with them.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/e6f09-1shil3vwcvnrhcpatczgjuw.png)
Chatbots Can Help Us Talk to Animals
Could applying the Internet of Things to animals someday allow us to talk to them?![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/f996b-1z364kde94dyaw_el5gomsa.gif)
How Bots Were Born From Spam
The earliest attempts at chatbots were designed to capture user attention on the early web.![](https://www.howwegettonext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/62281-1ncbkqzdyjoqyzlxngrlaxg.png)