If you've never thanked your car, you've never lived anywhere that it gets cold.

If you still start your car when it's cold, you've never lived anywhere that gets really cold.

(Starting your car at -55C is not a good idea, even when it has >300W of heaters keeping it warm.)

Where the (freezing) hell? Not even in the Uruguayan Antarctic base does it get to -55C (my personal worst has been -17C, and I've been to Canada and the Austrian Alps).

Or been on the thruway when you're really, really low on gas.

How advanced does an AI have to be before you should say 'thank you'?

It actually frustrates me that Siri doesn't give a hoot whether you thank her.

I want to thank her a) because it feels natural and b) to tell her that she's actually got something right. She's usually less use than an ice kettle so I want us both to get a kick out of it when she's not.

It could actually have function value as it could trigger some positiveness in a bayesian filter, subsequently increasing results accuracy. I let you be creative about the negative sentences.

Perhaps they'll add a thanks-awareness feature that will eavesdrop on your online conversations and thank you next time yyou're using it - "oh BTW, thanks for mentioning me to your friends on your blog" ... or y'know, maybe not.

The key for the everyday user probably won't be better AI, but rather the achievement of more natural interaction rhythms. People cajole, beg and bargain with their cars, computers, baseball teams; with no response expected, the rhythms are conversational (if wry).

The one second press-and-hold, then the three second wait for response, are obstacles that keep Siri removed. Once those limitations are inevitably gone, and one can immediately say "thanks" and hear a naturalistic response in less than half a second (like Malkovich in the commercial where "time sequences are shortened"), the illusion will be a strong one. Statefulness, ubiquity, and responsiveness will be a powerful UX combination. To the degree Siri interaction becomes naturalistic, we'll probably say "please" and "thanks" much as we do in everyday speech.

Seems like those changes will just cause us to enter a stage where we'll hit the uncanny valley. What Siri seems to overcome is some of the social awkwardness around voice interaction, but the last mile, so to speak, will be much more expensive to overcome.

Hope I'm wrong though.

once it gets moody if you don't?

I got into college on an essay addressing essentially that topic. It was a while ago and discussed what emotions are appropriate when a talking ATM thanks you for banking. In a British accent.

Apparently he showers with Siri. So naughty.