January 10, 2005
A Win for the Squeaky Wheel
New software in research stages at USC can analyze your tone of voice (as well as your sighs, grumbles and groans) as you wait in a phone queue to determine exactly how frustrated you are. The software then moves you up in the queue the more annoyed you sound.
I'm glad we're rewarding people for being rude, impatient and out-of-control with their emotions. Do I have to sigh loudly into the receiver, even though I'm willing to wait, just to get faster service? Should I yell at the bank teller from the back of the line so that I can move up? If this catches on, it will set a bad precedent.