There he is, in the corner of the room. Tray balanced on his fingertips, chin in the air. You forget he’s there, until he appears before you and gives you exactly what you need – without you even having to ask. You accept it, taken aback: ‘Thank you, sir.’ He knows all your preferences. He’s the attentive barista who starts making your flat white the moment you walk in. And have you ever been to Croatia and Montenegro? Then The Butler subtly places leaflets about Albania on his tray. But the choice is yours – he’s only here to serve.
Superpowers
- He’s the quiet force behind the scenes
- Gets to know you and your preferences
- Helps you in your daily life: gives you outfit suggestions and automatically activates focus mode whilst you’re working.
- Makes you feel seen – perhaps a bit too much at times.
Kryptonite
- He knows a lot about you: often that’s nice, but sometimes it’s downright creepy.
- Anyone who’s read British whodunnit novels will know: it’s often The Butler who’s done it. So the question is: can you trust every Butler, or is he stealing your data?
- Overload: you can also be bombarded with too many relevant adverts and suggestions.
- AI ensures that The Butler is getting better and better at reading minds: this raises ethical and philosophical questions surrounding these developments.
The Butler in practice
The Butler is everywhere. It lets you know when it’s time to set off, check in, or that your workout is about to start. Or he thinks ahead for you: you’ll get a notification from Buienalarm telling you that you can still set off now without getting wet, and he’ll straight away send you some recipe suggestions for tonight when you get home. Or would you like a meal kit subscription? Because he’s got that sorted for you too, complete with a discount code.
Ally
The Robot is the neuro-atypical twin brother of The Butler. The difference is that The Robot doesn’t offer choices, but mainly works in the background to make everything happen automatically. He handles the updates, the filters, the profiles and the algorithms, and then The Butler takes over.
Archenemy
He’s got nothing to do with The Idealist. The Butler has no ideals – unless you have them yourself, in which case he’s happy to think things through with you.
Summary
At best, The Butler is an absolute asset that has become an indispensable part of every end-user’s life. But the fact that he’s always standing against the wall with a drink in his hand, and seems increasingly able to read your mind, also raises concerns for the future.
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Nils van den Broek — Founder
Send message via LinkedIn Schedule a meeting nils@valsplat.nl
