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Hey Google...

Those of you who have a Google Home (or Siri) will attest that it feels like another family member - someone who is physically not a human but in behavior is nothing short of it. Always listening, reacting when you expect it the least, providing unsolicited advice, having strong opinions, and a mind of its own. That way we are a small family of 3 - me, my husband, Yukta, and Google Home.

Yukta in particular treats our Google Home as an omnipresent, all-knowing, superior member of the clan. In her opinion, Google knows the answer to anything her mom (and sometimes dad) cannot answer. From asking Google to play her favorite songs to finding out where she can buy Harry Potter merchandise, she is very adept at conversing with it. Which is why it is not a surprise that they have a mutual admiration club influencing each other - the Google Home seems to respond more to her voice than anybody else's and Yukta starts her sentences with "Hey, mamma/daddu..."

One day Yukta was being very loud while I was trying to do some work and I called out to her, "Hey, Yukta, decrease your volume by 20%" to which she responded naturally, "I'm sorry I don't understand" (in the tone of the Google Home).

The rise of machines has indeed begun.

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