The Modern Hyperreal: Siri

As technologies become more and more advanced, it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish the man-made from the natural, especially because the man-made often emulates the natural. One example of this is the development of Siri, and other similar services provided by smartphone devices. While perhaps Siri & others are not yet to the level to be considered humanlike – the services still posses somewhat robotic like voices – they carry the potential, with further developments, to imitate human conversation and interaction very well. Siri can already recognize the voice of its owner, and understands most basic commands and questions. It even almost has a personality, as it will respond to silly questions with silly answers – just check out http://www.cheatsheet.com/gear-style/20-questions-to-ask-siri-for-a-hilarious-response.html/?a=viewall ! Of course, this personality is not dynamic – rather, it is the programmed response from clever engineers. And still Siri is a humanly figure in a very nonhuman device, representing a modern example of the hyperreal.