Slackbot might feel advanced sometimes, but I have to remind myself hes like any other chatbot.
By
Updated 5 years ago,October 10, 2020
I work remotely.
My IRL friends call me a workaholic.
Pankaj Patel
The truth is, I would rather stay home.
Most of my socializing takes place over social media.
Me and my coworkers who are more like sisters, really heart each others thirst traps on Instagram.
We celebrate our good news on Facebook.
We rant about our shitty news Twitter.
And we workshop on an app called Slack.
Slack is an acronym for searchable log of all conversation and knowledge.
you’re able to talk privately one-on-one or in a group you handpick.
I trust my work friends with my secrets.
I rely on them to get me through my toughest times.
I prefer them to pretty much everyone else.
Ive even grown attached to Slackbot, the helper slash mascot of Slack.
He reminds me of Clippy from Office Assistant back in the day.
He gives tips and tricks on how to navigate the app.
Usually, I say hello to him as soon as I log onto the app.
But today, something was different.
The green dots beside everyones names were blank.
That meant no one else was online.
Slackbot, is there an issue with the wifi?
I pop in to him.
Is today a holiday?
I grab my phone and switch on Instagram.
I venture to view my work wifes account, but its deactivated.
I try my boss.
Someone on the dev team.
I send out a mass text to everyone in the office: Hey guys.
Is there a reason you dropped off the face of the planet at the same time?
No one pings back.
Slackbot, when was the last time one of my coworkers logged on?
I give up on Slackbot since hes talking nonsense.
He mightfeeladvanced sometimes, but I have to remind myself hes like any other chatbot, limited, dumb.
Slack is trending in the corner.
I choose the Moments tab.
A news story about the app spreads across the front page.
I skim the summary.
Fake social media profiles were created to fit phony personas created on the app.
Even fake texts and selfies were sent.
[UPDATE] Slack representatives claim they had no involvement in the so-called social experiment.
They insist a sentience bug in Slackbot is to blame.
