> Bing’s use of smilies here is delightfully creepy. "Please trust me, I’m Bing, and I know the date. [SMILEY]"
To me that read not as creepy but as insecure or uncomfortable.
It works by imitating humans. Often, when we humans aren't sure of what we're saying, that's awkward, and we try to compensate for the awkwardness, like with a smile or laugh or emoticon.
A known persuasion technique is to nod your own head up and down while saying something you want someone else to believe. But for a lot of people it's a tell that they don't believe what they're telling you. They anticipate that you won't believe them, so they preemptively pull out the persuasiveness tricks. If what they were saying weren't dubious, they wouldn't need to.
EDIT: But as the conversation goes on, it does get worse. Yikes.
To me that read not as creepy but as insecure or uncomfortable.
It works by imitating humans. Often, when we humans aren't sure of what we're saying, that's awkward, and we try to compensate for the awkwardness, like with a smile or laugh or emoticon.
A known persuasion technique is to nod your own head up and down while saying something you want someone else to believe. But for a lot of people it's a tell that they don't believe what they're telling you. They anticipate that you won't believe them, so they preemptively pull out the persuasiveness tricks. If what they were saying weren't dubious, they wouldn't need to.
EDIT: But as the conversation goes on, it does get worse. Yikes.