[bob1029]

I think anthropomorphization of machines is bad. However, I strongly believe in the close cousin of sympathizing with the machines.

For example, when parking a car on a very steep incline, one could just mindlessly throw the machine into park and it would do the job dutifully. However, a more thoughtful operator might think to engage the parking brake and allow it to take the strain off the drivetrain before putting the transmission into park. The result being that you trade wear from something that is very hard to replace to something that is very easy to replace.

The same thinking applies to ideas in computer engineering like thread contention, latency, caches, etc. You mentally embrace the "strain" the machine experiences and allow it to guide your decisions.

Just because the machine isn't human doesn't mean we can't treat it nicely. I see some of the most awful architecture decisions come out of a cold indifference toward individual machines and their true capabilities.

[bicepjai]

I think anthropomorphization of machines is an evolving concept. If some asked me to do an impression of a robot, i would say “bee bop, i am a robot”; but if I ask that same question to my son in 20 years, he’s gonna remember them as human companion or helper or pair programmer or the list goes on. At that point that generation is going to look at them differently