It will probably not have escaped you that people, because of an ongoing pandemic, have been video-conferencing a lot and thus have become more well-mannered. It is a simple necessity. Most tools just require you to shut up while one person is talking. Interruptions are futile and quickly reduce communication to zero. Also, thanks to unreliable internet connections, often there is an unspecified latency. Users need to be patient to compensate, and ensure the other party has really finished their sentence. The positive effect has not gone unnoticed. Many have indeed become more considerate during conversations, and accustomed to the fact, that they actually have to listen during a conversation.

What if we designed our tools specifically to encourage such behaviour. There are many features that come to mind, that could teach our fellow apes to be even more considerate conversationalists. For example, the tool could automatically mute people who yell too loudly into their microphones. Those with a tendency to articulate too loud would have to adjust. We could also mute those who hold too many overbearing monologues. Ensuring an equal distribution of speaking time amongst participants in a call. People would surely transfer behaviour patterns to real conversations too. More sophisticated features could unmute people who usually don't respond to questions directed at them. Or we could detect yawning, nose picking, eyerolling, and other rude behaviour. These could result in a ban from the conversation or some other more creative form of punishment. Everybody would benefit.s

Yet another way in which giant tech companies can help us become better humans. I, for one, welcome our benevolent robot overlords.