Microsoft’s experiment in China with chatbot known as Xiaoice was a success. Folks chat with Xiaoice when they have been dumped in a relationship, are experiencing depression or been laid off.

As a virtual platform, people can chat for extended lengths of time with her. Users feel she has excellent listening skills, a great sense of humor and so called ability to love you unconditionally.

That machines may reduce the size of the workforce, and require a different skill, is a concern. Bill Joy, cofounder of Sun Microsystems, is troubled by body transplants where “the human race drifts into dependence on machines, with no practical choice but to accept  machine decisions.” Talking with Ray Kurzweil, computer scientist, inventor, futurist, director of engineering at Google, Joy became more concerned for humans.

Ray Kurzweil believes machines will be more intelligent than humans in a short time — and a person’s history, experiences, emotions, consciousness can be downloaded making the decision to transplant more agreeable.

If it extends life another 100 years, people will accept the idea whether they are able to control their brain or  the mechanized brain take charge. […]