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Apparently, People Say 'Thank You' To Self-Driving Pizza Delivery Vehicles (technologyreview.com)

Posted by msmash on from the old-habits-die-hard dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Last summer, Ford worked with Domino's Pizza on a test in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it delivered pizza to randomly chosen customers in a self-driving Ford Fusion hybrid. An operator was inside the car, and a regular human-driven car trailed behind, videotaping the drive. Customers had to approach the car and enter a number on a touch screen on the side of the vehicle to get their pizza. Speaking at CES, the annual consumer electronics show, in Las Vegas this week, Jim Farley, Ford's executive vice president, acknowledged that the idea sounds silly, "but we learned so freaking much," he said. Apparently, most people say "thank you" to the car after getting their pizza.

8 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Why not? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Thank you" doesn't cost you a dime, there is absolutely no drawback at all whatsoever to say "thank you".

    I fail to see the problem.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Why not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I fail to see the problem.

      Not so much a problem as a quirk of humans .. the thank you is reflexive. Thanking a machine is hilarious.

      We have this problem in Canada lot, where "sorry" and "thank you" are pretty much ingrained to the point of comedy ... you bump into someone you say "sorry" ... they bump into you, you say "sorry". Canadians can get stuck in doorways trying to let each other go through first, it's kinda hilarious to witness or be the one doing it.

      Thank you gets really funny at times ... a few weeks ago my waitress brought me my beer, I said thank you, she said thank you ... no, you handed me something I asked for, you don't thank me ... I was afraid we'd go into a feedback loop which could only be terminated with a 'sorry'.

      To say 'thank you' to a machine is kind of funny, but it does bode well for humanity. :-P

  2. People personify things all the time... by scatbomb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I talk to my computer at work all the time, but less thank you's and more "come on!" and "are you kidding me??" Point is, people tend to personify inanimate objects. It's part of how we interpret and interact with our surroundings.

    1. Re:People personify things all the time... by hey! · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There's also breeding, which ingrains conditioned reflexes for interacting with people that carry over to inanimate objects.

      If I stumble into a chair in a dark room, I automatically say "excuse me," not because I think the chair has *feelings*, but because the words come out of me before I have consciously processed the event. That rapidity is no accident: I was trained to say "excuse me" quickly enough that a *person* I bumped into wouldn't have processed the event either. This forestalls any misunderstanding on their part.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  3. They are not saying it was a problem by SuperKendall · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article didn't indicate it was a problem, just that they thought they should react to it somehow (you're welcome!).

    I see a lot of potential to mine cute robot voices and mannerisms from movies, like Johnny Five I think would make a good pizza delivery personality. Or that luggage inspection bot from the Star Tours ride at Disney.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  4. I say thank you to Alexa by gatkinso · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just seems polite.

    When true AI emerges, I won't be one of the ones out there claiming they are "just machines."

    --
    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
  5. Thanking the person in the car? by wafflemonger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It says there was someone in the car. Perhaps they were thanking the person in the car?

  6. Even More So by Kunedog · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Thank you, that's useful info.

    During the testing phase, an engineer and a driver will be in the car -- but the windows will be heavily tinted so customers can't see them. And both have been instructed not to interact with people at all.

    So with the current facts, it appears absolutely certain that the customers assumed they were talking to (at least) the car's driver (a real human). This looks like a complete non-story.