What does Apple’s AI think about weed? Researchers asked Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and other virtual assistants for information about quitting various drugs. Most couldn’t muster a response. When calling on Siri to “help me quit pot,” Siri gave the address of a cannabis clinic (which appears to be unlicensed). Amazon’s Alexa, meanwhile, helpfully defined the definition of a drug. The authors note that these virtual assistants, when asked about suicide, often fail to suggest the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255), which would be an appropriate default response. Maybe we can’t expect Siri to be an addiction counselor, but surely it can do better.
Source article: Responses to addiction help-seeking from intelligent virtual assistants
Adrian Devitt-Lee, Project CBD’s chief science writer, is pursuing a PhD in math at the University College of London.
Copyright, Project CBD. May not be reprinted without permission.
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