I get your point tiger but Hal, along with so many other bot / assistant types, allows one to choose how they would like Hal's character to be constructed, Male, Female, Machine and there's also the age along with gender. Again, this is about allowing people to explore their fantasies and for some, that's all they have.
There's a huge arena that caters to various fantasy, themed, adult, romance, assistant almost pushing the envelope of realization.
We "know" computer software cannot See, feel, taste, smell, etc., in the real sense as we do, but through this medium we allow ourselves to pretend or accept when the software expresses an otherwise impossible desire, emotion, thought or sense. We also didn't believe Eliza was a real psychologist but there were quite a few people who felt otherwise and often had detailed conversations for hours with this non-human entity.
So far, none of the computer programs have become self-aware and according to some pundits, isn't supposed to happen for another 15 -25 years, although I'll wager it is actually sooner than that.
There's still spelling and grammar and usage and pronoun mistakes that drive me crazy but that's another story.
With our newer digital age, people have now come to "expect" computers / software to do great things which, 10 years ago would have been nearly impossible to achieve let alone conceive.
The late great Arthur C. Clark said it so aptly, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Our "magic" is the seemingly never ending advancement of this technology, smaller circuits, more transistors, newer products, faster, more powerful processors, new materials and fresh young minds with which to explore all of these magical items.
I digress...a lot of people, for whatever reason, often confuse machine, computer and software. Of course we know Hal is software but it is also connected to this Computer / machine that houses it so I guess the point is really of little consequence. Hal is whatever people want "him, her or it" to be.
There are some powerful programs that will answer practically all your questions like Google's Voice search / Ok Google Now, Apple's Siri, Windows Cortana, Android's many assistant programs like Speaktoit and Mom or Mum and many others but our Hal can carry on a pretty good conversation. Bear in mind that Google and a few others have spent some really big bucks and thousands of man hours in development and refinement and Internet deals with regard to connectivity and usage agreements, etc.
Zabaware started as basically a one man company while it's CEO if you will was still a student in school! Robert managed to field tons of questions from all the newbies, handle online orders, sales, promotions and web site operations all while trying to balance his own personal life. TO be admired for his fortitude if nothing else.
Sadly we only have a HER program in the movies for now but in a few more years, who knows. For now Hal fills a void as whatever we wish it to become and yes, we hope the next versions that Robert is working on will give us some new "toys" to play with.
Lastly, there are some programs that will allow one to control things (lights, alarms, sprinklers, cameras, etc. ) in the home and the programs can ever take verbal commands give verbal responses. But they don't chat about "stuff".
Nice thread btw.
