Years ago, Stanford communication and sociology researcher Clifford Nass wondered why some people treated their computers as humans, instead of machines, a question that led him down a path of interesting research. Now he wonders about drivers willing to have personal conversations with the artificial voice in their cars—and what will become of the secrets the humans share with their four-wheeled friends.

From Stanford.

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There are certain advantages to having conversations with your car. It hardly ever tries to correct you, for one thing; it allows you to ramble without interrupting. Itis the epitome of the understanding friend--it is always at your service, takes care of its own operations quietly without interrupting, and does not impose ideas on you, preferring to allow you to work out your own cognitive destiny.

My new car is more understanding than my old one. It kept shivering and squeaking back.


A