because we shouldn't be humanizing AI while depersonalizing the actual people who use stuff, according to MIT Technology Review.
As a consumer and a low skilled worker I think the solution to call the rich dinner.
It’s time to retire the term “user”
Submitted 2 months ago by Aatube@kbin.melroy.org to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
2xsaiko@discuss.tchncs.de 2 months ago
Recently, I met with a founder who cringed when his colleague used the word “humans” instead of “users.” He wasn’t sure why.
Yeah because it sounds super weird. Who says “humans” instead of “people”.
- “my app has 2000 users” - yes
- "2000 people use my app" - yes
- "2000 humans use my app" - you’re definitely an alien
Either way what a stupid article. The AI angle pretty much makes me dismiss it outright because I refuse to let AI dictate anything I do except for adding AI crawlers to my website’s robots.txt. And then you’ve got the corporate focus which is also really strange since that’s not the only place where there’s “users”. Open-source software also has users (and developers, so if you want to replace “users” with “people”, does that mean developers are not people?) and I would be insulted if someone implied I “depersonalize” the people who use my software by calling them users. It’s just a descriptive word and this article and everyone quoted here seems like they’re trying to pull a bad connotation to the word out of thin air.
nyan@lemmy.cafe 2 months ago
Skimming the article, the suggestion seems to be to use “people” or “humans” rather than “users” This is idiotic on the face of it: “user” refers specifically to a person who is interacting with a computer, not just any person. There are, y’know, still human beings in this world who have never encountered a computer. Some of them never will. There’s no wifi on North Sentinel Island, but the inhabitants are definitely humans and people.
n3cr0@lemmy.world 2 months ago
There is a little difference between a user and an abuser.
eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2 months ago
no captcha annoyance
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The authors only other article was two years ago about psychedelics…
And from as far as I could make it I to this one, it sounds like she’s been on them continuously.
It’s just such a stupid thing to get upset and write about.
rhys@lemmy.rhys.wtf 2 months ago
I like the human-centred language, strange as it feels on the tongue. I wonder if it might help frame development a bit better in place of ‘user’ or ‘customer’ — aside from the more real distinction between humans and AI we’re all going to have to get used to in design.
P1nkman@lemmy.world 2 months ago
So no job titles, as we’re all humans. What do you do for a living? Human stuff.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 2 months ago
Better solution: Don’t call AI a “user.”
Keep it like Tron. Users are explicitly human.