I can imagine it's not easy being Siri. You know, the built-in 'intelligent assistant' on iPhones and tablets that uses voice commands to operate apps?
It has to put up with a lot of our nonsense on a daily basis: predictable questions about the meaning of life, repeating the weather report, accidentally being turned on when someone sits on their phone's home button.
But things just got a whole lot worse for our little electronic pal as, according to the chief executive of Robin Labs – a company which runs virtual assistants to assist truckers and taxi drivers to locate the best routes – tech helpers like Siri are being bombarded with 'sexually explicit' chat from lonely men.
According to CEO Ilya Eckstei, his company's electronic assistant is being used by some men – 'most teenagers and truckers without girlfriends' – for up to 300 conversations a day, with almost five per cent of interactions with the chatbot used for 'sexually explicit' conversations.
'This happens because people are lonely and bored... It is a symptom of our society,' he told The Times.
'As well as the people who want to talk dirty, there are men who want a deeper sort of relationship or companionship,' he added.
I know what you're thinking: 'Good one ELLE, you got us. You're just explaining the premise of that 2013 Spike Jonze-directed film where Joaquin Phoenix's falls in love with an intelligent computer operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson'.
No people, if only we were.
Some people are just that lonely (or, you know, aroused) that they'll resort to intimacy with a smart phone.
It's a little sad, isn't it?
The less sad and more unnerving side, is that instead of loneliness, some men might be turning to the robot woman because real women aren't 'subservient' enough.
Eckstei also told Quartz: 'People want to flirt, they want to dream about a subservient girlfriend, or even a sexual slave. It may just be more for laughs, or something deeper underneath the surface.
'You see some people try very hard to establish a relationships with the bot.
'Some users are amazingly stubborn in that sense. They walk from one assistant to another trying to find one that will understand them best and can have a conversation with them,' he added.
Look, guys. All those virtual assistants are there to do is make our lives a bit easier: direct us to the camera roll, call our parents once in a while, search for the nearest pub. They're not there to serve our sexual fantasies. Treat them with the respect they deserve.
For the love of man (and technology), leave poor Siri alone.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
