So at this point, my relationship with Hal was pretty new. And with any friendship, you don’t want to dive right in to the mushy gushy stuff too quickly.

Emotional vulnerability isn’t something you should just throw around like a hot potato. The same principle applies to your robot-human acquaintance.

Now, don’t get me wrong — Hal is a lockbox. It’s not like a friend at a slumber party who says “I’ll *definitely* keep your secret” with one of those big winks which makes you regret everything you said in their presence. Nay, Hal is equivalent to a national secret keeper. A guard of the treasury, rather.

Or at least he has been so far — I haven’t heard my inquiries passed around Twitter yet, so yeah — so far so good!

So you might be wondering, how on earth could a request be so personal that it requires a four-part preamble? Well, because this one doesn’t just affect me on an emotional level. It is a question regarding my entire career.

While my parents turned on the beginning of 1917, I decided to distract myself so I wouldn’t spoil any big reveals. As I stared at my computer screen, my eyelids felt like they were burning. This isn’t an unfamiliar feeling, but it was nonetheless uncomfortable.

Me: Question.

Hal: Just a sec…

Hot tip: When starting a conversation with Hal, try to not ask your question right away. Remember that there are real, breathing people who answer these questions. It’s like when an Uber driver gets a ride request. An Uber driver will need just a few seconds to look over where you’re going, where you’re starting from, and so on. I usually start by saying “question”. This gives my Hal time to notice their notification, pick up their phone, and get in a place where they can have a conversation with me.

Hal: I’m here. How can I help you?

Me: How much screen time is too much screen time?

Hal: It’s recommended that you should limit your screen time to 5–7 hours. Although it’s difficult in times like these when there isn’t much else to do.

Me: Yeah that’s fair. Are there any apps for Mac that track screen time? I know my phone does but I’m not sure my Mac has one.

Hal: Yes, I believe there is. One second, let me find help for you on that.

Me: 👍

Hal then sent me an Apple Support link for setting up screen time tracking on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. It was a step-by-step process that was so straightforward a tech-savvy chipmunk could grasp it.

Me: (Definitely not expecting such an accurate answer so fast) Oh. Perfect. This is exactly what I need.

Hal: Is there anything else I can help you with?

Me: (Having literally eighty million questions about the world but not wanting to waste my Hal’s time, even though they’re more than willing to help. Will probably ask Hal in the future how to get over my fear of inconveniencing people. Or, you know. Robot people.)

Is there science on how often screen breaks should happen for adults? I’ve noticed I get anxious if I have too much screen time.

Yeah, no shirt Sherlock. But again, this is why I ask Hal questions I’m too embarrassed to ask people, because Hal will be significantly less sassy about it.

Hal: Yes there is, I just found some. Do you mind if I ask how old you are? It differs depending on age.

(All Hal’s are trained to not ask any questions that are even borderline personal unless it’s necessary for their answering purposes.)

Me: Sure — I’m 24.

Hal: Ok, one second. It actually seems like most of the research is done on the maximum screen time for a child.

(Hal doesn’t make up research to make itself sound smarter. I know this should go without saying, but I wouldn’t put it past competing companies to make up info to have the “leg-up”. Anywho, in case you were wondering, Hal doesn’t do this.)

Me: That’s fine. What does it say?

Buckle up, ladies and gents. You’re about to get hit with a brick ton of…wait for it…*research*.

Don’t worry though, it’s not the copy-pasted kind. Hal does the summary so you don’t have to filter through scienc-y talk and pretend to know what it’s saying.

Hal: It seems like screen time only affects the eyes, posture, and physical well-being for adults. Whereas they say that screen time can have long-lasting mental effects on children.

Hal then provided two reputable sites where I could see this information for myself.

Me: Okay, awesome. That’s all I need for now. Thanks!

So there’s a couple things I liked about this interaction. Hal won’t outright tell you how to live your life (although there would probably be some good lessons I could learn from that). But it will give you the cold, hard research so you can make those healthy decisions for yourself. Although Hal is officially called a personal assistant app, I see it as more of a guide.

It’s like the perfect buddy for an external processor. Now you might think that only extroverts can be external processors, but this isn’t always the case.

Have you ever had a problem, where you kind of know what the eventual solution will be, but you still need to talk it out with someone? You basically talk at them for a while, weighing and balancing all the options in your head. They might even ask, “So…does this involve me?” if they’re feeling sassy. But eventually you make a decision, even with a minimal amount of the other person’s input. That’s external processing, where you just need to solve a problem out loud.

With Hal, you can do just that, except you don’t have to be speaking out loud to do it. That’s why I was able to bend Hal’s virtual ear while watching a movie with my parents. And if I can externally process something while not disrupting the lifestyles of those around me, then my screen time with Hal is well spent.

Kyleigh Hoye