Righting skils of teh 21st centery - Part 2: Digital Communication

Back in April I wrote a blog about the writing skills of people nowadays. Specifically about how we rely on tools like auto-completion and auto-correction to review our spelling. Google being the leader of information came out with an even more advance writing tool, Google Scribe. This tool not only try to complete the word you are typing but even try to figure the next word (yes, word you have not even started typing or have not even start thinking of yet). Meaning that technically I can now write entire blogs without even thinking. Let's try that...

Today I am going to be a part of the products name and address of the person who is not a valid stream resource in D minor for two violins and a cello player and a great deal of time. But the fact that the two are not the only one who can not afford to pay for the cost of the project is to develop a new method for the determination of the amount of the compound of formula I wherein R is a hydrogen atom or a methyl group at the University of California. In the end, the first and second portions of the first and second portions of the first and second portions of the first and second...

Hmm, I think I got into a loop at the end. I also think I'll keep writing my own blogs until Google finds something more interesting to say. The idea of the tool is not to tell you what to write but help you find the next word in case you have a blank. It does propose words which relates to the preceding terms, in which is does somewhat succeed.

So this is the future of auto-complete. So this is the future of writing. I'm not talking about literature writing, but common day to day writing. Messages, emails and chat. Type in a few keys and a whole paragraph has been completely written for you. How much time will we save? We'll become communicating machines, producing more and more mechanical interactions at an increasing rate of automation.

Keywords in my last sentence were machines, mechanical and automation. All organic form of communication will decrease to be replaced by digital communication. Digitization is the removal of imperfections, removing bits of reality to a degree perceivable by humans. Digital music sounds perfect to our ear by removing noises and frequencies not consciously perceived by humans. Digital videos presents vivid images by removing small details the human eyes can't perceive and presenting images not faster than the normal human perception rate. Digital communication while presenting a better and richer vocabulary will remove ideas not normally perceived by society and limit our communication to socially acceptable discussions without human creativity.

Google Scribe can be (and will be) a great tool but as any tool it's how you use it that matters. It's still in beta mode and can do impressive things. Soon it'll be on smart phones and people will use it to text and message each other relying more and more on it. Leaving it to their devices to formulate their ideas into words.

Will the digitization of communication occur? It is up to me, you and all of us to keep our mind free and to keep being creative in our daily lives.