You need H20 to survive but you want H2H to do business.
Human to human is how you talk to me unless I’m a robot or another kind of non-biological form of existence. I own a business you sell your products to. I am also a consumer buying your products for personal use.
In both cases a human interaction takes place. It is not important that it has been facilitated, automated and processed by systems because the initiation for both the buying and selling process came from a human person like you and me.
The eradication of the human element
You are sure it is not two machines talking to each other, not two formal entities having a chat with one another or two organizations small-talking. Yet, you use the terms B2C, C2C or B2B. Why? The only purpose I see is to dehumanize the human element which is crazy.
In an X + Y = Z formula that needs a human X to equate well you cannot erase it. The human variable is not drawn by chalk, and the interaction is not only a theoretic exploration on the chalkboard.
Although I see #H2H becoming a topic of interest, understand that we live in a „Thank You Economy“ (2009) that celebrates the renaissance of the human connection in the internet, I see social media bots taking advantage of the digital connection and the technology — but always initiated by a human person (although I see a certain charm in the idea of a machine being programmed by another a machine).
To be H or !2BH (nerd joke)
If a robot can imitate human behavior and responses, how human is this bot then? If you can have a good conversation with a machine, how machine are you then?
You and I, we have been entering an era where you chatted with strangers in the 90s, maybe had some CS sessions but basically, everything happened in your head. If this virtual („only happens in your head“) experience now makes it to a virtual human life form and eventually a virtual reality (VR) it becomes valid to question the need of differentiating human and machine. In fact, it has been a questioned since 49 years, at least.
When C stands for Computer, not Consumer
Maybe I was wrong all the time and what people actually meant with B2C and C2C was a wise forecast of what is about to come. A business serving a computer, and computer serving each other.
In this regard, the outcry of demanding H2H as the default way of seeing an interaction of human people will only be temporary pit stop until we arrived at the binary black and white finish line.
Conclusion
Starting your business using H2H is a wise decision because machines can learn a lot from human behavior and care, like our capacity for feeling empathy. When you do business with another human person, you are doing H2H, unless you really do business with a computer then it would be human-computer-interaction (HCI) on a business level. Or you would be able to talk with whatever form of existence, like water, so you would speak H20 which obviously has been an existing and established element.
But the new kid in town is human to human. H2H is the new element in the non-chemical periodic table. But as explained H2H will only be a temporary claim because eventually, you will merge into an existence that is both human and machine. New-born babies’ first word will then be „papa-machine“ or „mama-machine“. Do not be scared. It is going to happen anyway. You will realize the moment you wake up from your deep-frozen box and melt to… a humachine.
In the end, I can hear people say:
Somehow I am looking forward to seeing it happen in front of my eyes.
This was episode 40 of the #weekendpunchline 👊. Every Saturday and Sunday.
Also published on Medium.