On this week’s Gadget Lab Podcast, we discuss voice assistants. We’re spending a lot of time talking to our devices. They’re talking back, too—products like Google Home and Amazon Echo can answer questions, give us helpful information, and tell stupid jokes. But what’s the end result of all this gabbing? Smarter AI assistants, sure. But the way we bark commands at our voice-controlled tech and treat the devices like lowly machines … is that making us ruder? Should we design the computers to talk to us more like humans in order to encourage empathy, or should we keep them cold and machine-like so we don’t get unhealthily attached? Is this even a problem?

Podcast

Some notes: The Google Home is now available, and David talks to it. Also, Tim Moynihan puts Google’s Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa head-to-head to see which one keeps him company better. A year ago, David wrote about the coming wave of “crazy-powerful” AI assistants. David’s recommendation this week is Poisonfeather by Matthew Fitzsimmons. Michael recommends Amanda yerba mate.

Send the hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds (David Pierce is @pierce and Michael Calore is @snackfight) or bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab.