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The world is changing fast. Post-Covid, and with climate change on our minds, we have to ask ourselves: Do we really need more machines? More physical stuff? Do complex hardware systems actually help us communicate better? I’m becoming more skeptical. Maybe language, shared through the platforms we already have, is all we need.

Memory, data, embeddings, and digital assistants—these are the things I’m obsessed with.

Evolution of jobs

I remember when I was a kid in the 90s, my mother, a pharmacist in the hospital, telling me about her struggles with the new computers she had to use. She felt like these computers were stupid tools because they didn't understand her, and she often came home disturbed and uncomfortable with this new way of working. It was not a choice of her to use them, it was kind of forced with limited bandwith to adapt to it, and that was a bad feeling.

At the same time, I remember my own passion for tech growing, wondering why my mother was so bothered by it while I found so much joy in it.

Jobs have always evolved over time. One notable example is the blacksmith, a profession that saw significant growth from the Middle Ages with the development of the population and the strong need for the agricultural world.

Maréchal Ferrand

What do our interactions with machines reveal?

Xavier Basset - 2020 - TEDx Mines Ales
Xavier on stage at TEDx

TL;DR:

As a designer and developer, I have often thought about the ways in which our interactions with machines reveal insights about ourselves as humans.

These interactions can help us understand ourselves better and push us towards more intuitive and natural uses of technology. I have personally experienced the emotional power of such interactions, as demonstrated by the close connection my child formed with a robot during the holiday season. Additionally, I have come to appreciate the concept of attention in machine-human interactions and the importance of building relationships through attention and response. Empathy is also crucial in designing technology that meets the needs and emotions of the user.

I believe that technology has the potential to facilitate communication and connection between people, even across language barriers.

This is the best opportunity to make people communicate, learn, play and build love and happiness together at scale.