You guys are all freaking out...
Smarterchild doesnt go IMing these children on its own. You have to IM it yourself, usually with a specific purpose in mind. The same is true of every active buddy bot. They arent trying to trick anyone at all; They provide a service and are hoping to get corporations interested in it.
Their product does have real potential. Imagine each brand of detergent having their own IM SN, where you could ask them the best way to get a stain out, or could compare ingredients between each competing product.
You won't hear any public outcry from me until these active buddy bots start amassing huge AIM lists and spamming people.
>>And what excuse is given in response to the moral questions? We have to make a profit. Disgusting.
Well when people refuse to invest in companies that DON'T make a profit, the primary function of every company becomes TO make a profit, because if they don't make one the company will die.
Imagine if people invested in these companies freely without expecting a return at all, investing simply because they thought it was a good technology to continue developing, then the "primary" goal of these companies wouldnt be making a profit because they wouldnt have to worry about that stuff. It's an endless cycle... investors demand profits and so naturally thats the company's first goal. If they don't get profits, they don't get investors, and they die out.
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You guys are all freaking out... Smarterchild doesnt go IMing these children on its own. You have to IM it yourself, usually with a specific purpose in mind. The same is true of every active buddy bot. They arent trying to trick anyone at all; They provide a service and are hoping to get corporations interested in it. Their product does have real potential. Imagine each brand of detergent having their own IM SN, where you could ask them the best way to get a stain out, or could compare ingredients between each competing product. You won't hear any public outcry from me until these active buddy bots start amassing huge AIM lists and spamming people.
>>And what excuse is given in response to the moral questions? We have to make a profit. Disgusting.
Well when people refuse to invest in companies that DON'T make a profit, the primary function of every company becomes TO make a profit, because if they don't make one the company will die.
Imagine if people invested in these companies freely without expecting a return at all, investing simply because they thought it was a good technology to continue developing, then the "primary" goal of these companies wouldnt be making a profit because they wouldnt have to worry about that stuff. It's an endless cycle... investors demand profits and so naturally thats the company's first goal. If they don't get profits, they don't get investors, and they die out.