Response - What Can Automation Tell us About Agency?

Within the first five minutes of reading this essay, I began having flashbacks of standardized tests and the wave of anxiety they always brought with them.  I specifically remember sitting in the GMAT and seeing a girl break down into tears, throw her materials in the floor, and walk out the door screaming about how wrong it was to have a computer picking different questions for different people.  I felt bad for her, but I was also relieved to know at least someone was as stressed out as I was.

I think the SAT, GRE, and GMAT are all very accurate indicators of ability.  Evaluating a potential student should obviously be a combination of testing, previous work, and references, but the idea of a grading system for speaking is very interesting.  I think that Miller does a great job of explaining both the benefits and the limitations of using this hypothetical system.  

AutoSpeech-Easy has the potential to be very beneficial to education if used properly, but could also create a lot of problems if it is not.  I think it would be a great supplemental tool for students as they prepare for a public speaking class, or before they are giving a presentation.  I do think it would be an inaccurate measurement for the effectiveness of a speech just because the variables that it is eliminating.  As Miller said, "To grade via computer takes away one of the hardest parts of public speaking; the public part."  The entire reason a public speaking course exists is to help people alleviate their concerns of addressing a topic in front of people.  During the course I took in undergrad, I honestly can't even remember what the speeches were about.  I just remember that by the end of the semester, I was much more comfortable speaking in front of people.

It also clouds many of the ideas presented by Herrick in "An Overview of Rhetoric."  Herrick talks about the significance of the arrangement of a speech, the planned delivery, and adjusting the speech according to the feedback of the audience.  This cannot be done when speaking to a computer that is analyzing the content of the speech, but not necessarily the placement.  

I think that using some sort of automated analysis software for speech could potentially be a great tool.  However, oral communication is too complex to use it as the sole measurement for the effectiveness of a speech.  The message of a speech and how it is received will always be determined by the people receiving it.